Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator returns after insider trading scandal to announce update to obscure pirate-themed coin pusher game: "I had to update a lot of things"

Cropped official art for Pirates of Coin, showing a group of skeleton pirates aboard a ship. — (Image credit: Prope)

Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator and former Sonic Team president Yuji Naka has suddenly released an update for an obscure eight-year-old mobile game, in news that feels a bit like a return to normality after some of the developer's more recent headlines.

While Naka has racked up credits on loads of iconic games over time, from the original Sonic the Hedgehog to Phantasy Star, as spotted by Time Extension, the game he's turned his attention to once more is Pirates of Coin, which was developed by PROPE – the studio he founded in 2006 after leaving Sega. You'd be forgiven for not recognizing it – it's a mobile, pirate-themed coin-pusher game available on iOS and Android, which sees the coins you earn transform into pirates who'll then send themselves flying at incoming enemies.

"After eight years, I have updated our PROPE application Pirates of Coin," Naka writes on Twitter. "It was built in Unity 5 at the time, but I had to update a lot of things while there are a lot of [Unities] between now and Unity 6. I changed Javascript to C# and supported a lot of Obsoletes."

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After 8years,I have updated our PROPE application “Pirates of Coin”.It was built in Unity5 at the time, but I had to update a lot of things while there are a lot of Unitys between now and Unity6. I changed Javascript to C# and supported a lot of Obsoletes. https://t.co/UlRrWdQEUn pic.twitter.com/DGirsWWRY5February 10, 2025

The question remains though, why now after all this time? I mean, it's certainly a positive thing to support the game for anyone still interested all these years later, but you have to wonder what inspired him to come back to it in the first place.

It feels like it's been a while since Naka made headlines for something as simple as updating a game. After departing Sega and founding Prope, he joined Square Enix in 2018 where he was involved with the underwhelming 3D platformer Balan Wonderworld. He left in 2021, but a year later, was arrested over allegations of insider trading. It was then reported in 2023 that Naka was given a two-and-a-half year prison sentence – suspended for four years – alongside some hefty fines.

Speaking of Sonic, did you know that BioWare's Sonic The Hedgehog RPG "actually uses Dragon Age: Origins dialogue system heavily streamlined to fit on the Nintendo DS"?

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.