Sonic creator and former head of Sonic Team, Yuji Naka, has reportedly been arrested in relation to an insider trading scheme involving a new Dragon Quest game.
As reported by Japanese news site FNN Prime Online, Naka is the latest suspect in an ongoing case regarding suspicious stock purchases in Japanese developer Aiming, ahead of the announcement of Dragon Quest Tact, a free-to-play mobile RPG.
Yesterday, two former Square Enix employees, Taisuke Sazaki and Fumiaki Suzuki, were arrested in Tokyo in relation to the case. The two had reportedly purchased around $335,000 worth of stock in Aiming between them just before news broke that the company was developing Dragon Quest Tact.
It seems that Naka himself made a suspicious purchase ahead of the game's reveal, to the tune of around $20,000, with the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors’ Office’s Special Investigation Department now making enquiries into the matter.
Along with artist Naoto Ohshima, Naka is credited with having created Sonic the Hedgehog, and most recently directed the critical and commercial flop Balan Wonderworld, which we awarded an ignoble 3/10 in our review. Naka would later sue Square Enix over Balan Wonderworld, claiming that he was removed from the project six months before it was released.
As this is an ongoing story, we will be sure to update you as and when new details come to light. What do you think of this whole situation? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source fnn.jp, via videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 14
He should have got arrested for making Balan Wonderworld, insider trading is a minor offence in comparison.
Must be a case of hedgehog fund fraud.
Wow. That's a bizarre story. I honestly don't know what else to say about it. It's just bizarre. Sad to see someone so important to the industry fall so hard.
Is that a recent photo? He looks too young to have created Sonic.
He just got hit and lost all his rings.
@racinggamefanatic
If your conviction rate is close to 100 percent then there is something seriously wrong with your 'justice' system.
@racinggamefanatic once your accused in Japan it’s 100% you’ll be convicted
@Clankylad rofl
I just noticed that he only purchased $20,000 worth of stock. Imagine ruining your career and reputation (and possibly facing a jail sentence) for twenty grand.
Apparently he wasn't fast enough.
@racinggamefanatic
When I said "your" I meant the Japanese legal system. Everything you just described sounds like a total nightmare and not in any way a fair system. So basically, you have no right to an attorney, no means to defend yourself and there is no chance of fighting back even if you are extremely wealthy? How is that not a dystopia? Also as someone who has worked in law enforcement in the deep southern U.S our conviction rate I can tell you for a fact is nowhere close to 100 percent.
let him redeem himself by making another sonic game , we needed him back like yesterday !
Unfortunate news to hear, I still haven't gotten around to playing Balan Wonderworld or the older Sonic games.
Nothing wrong with what he did. Insider trading happens all the time most countries are built and survive on back room deals. He just got caught in the process.
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