Sonic Co-Creator Reportedly Arrested Again for Insider Trading Involving a Final Fantasy Game
Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka has reportedly been re-arrested on suspicion of insider trading related to Final Fantasy games.
As reported by the Japanese press Asahi Shimbun According to what Bloomberg reporter Takashi Mochizuki translated on Twitter (below), the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office appears to have arrested Naka again, along with other former Square Enix employees.
After Naka and his former colleague learned that the studio was working on a Square Enix game, but before the information was made public, Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier developer Ateam Entertainment Inc. is said to have purchased shares in
Asahi: The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office has re-arrested former Square Enix employees, including Yuji Naka, this time on suspicion of insider trading related to Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier.https://t.co/84VZlTAu3s
— Takashi Mochizuki (@6d6f636869) December 7, 2022
Insider trading, the buying and selling of stocks containing confidential or non-public information, usually for profit, is illegal in Japan.
Less than three weeks later, Naka was arrested on suspicion of insider trading involving a Dragon Quest Tact mobile game. He is said to have bought his 10,000 shares of developer Aiming for around $20,000 before announcing a partnership with Square Enix.
Naka is arguably best known as the co-creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, where he led Sega’s Sonic team, but was the lead programmer for other games such as Knights Into Dreams and Phantasy Star Online. There was also. He eventually joined Square Enix, but retired in June 2021, not long after the release of his latest game, Balan Wonderland.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and UK news editor. He talks about witchers all day long.
