Sonic creator still pissed about 'no good' Square Enix
In April this year Yuji Naka, the celebrated designer best-known for his years at Sega and the creation of the first Sonic the Hedgehog games, posted an extraordinary condemnation of Square Enix(opens in new tab). Among other things he said «I don't think Square Enix cares about games.»
This bust-up all relates to the development of a game called Balan Wonderworld, on which Naka was once the project director before being removed by the publisher. Naka subsequently brought a lawsuit against Square Enix for his treatment. The legal stuff is all over now and, as part of the outcome, Naka is free to say what he thinks.
Just to briefly give the context of the game itself, Balan Wonderworld was marketed as a fantastical 3D platformer from the creators behind NiGHTs and Sonic(opens in new tab). However it launched in 2021 to very bad reviews (38% on Metacritic), and Naka left Square Enix(opens in new tab) shortly after release.
After the legal case settled, Naka gave a relatively detailed account of his time on the game, and what he believed to be the problems. A few months on, he's taken to social media to explain why he's so angry at Square Enix, and some more of the circumstances of his time there.
Fair warning: this is all going to get a little bit teenage break-up. There's clearly a lot of acrimony between Naka and Square Enix, and it is incredibly unusual to see such a high-profile spat within the Japanese industry.
«How would you feel if you were suddenly removed from a game that you had worked hard on for over two years,» writes Naka, «and when you went to court, you found out that they had been talking about me behind my back in court documents and that is why I was removed from the game?»
How would you feel if you
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