Sonic co-creator reportedly sentenced to two and a half years following insider trading allegations

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The former Square Enix developer was also reportedly fined millions

Yuji Naka
(Image credit: Yuji Naka)

Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka has reportedly been sentenced to two and a half years in prison with a four-year probation following insider trading allegations. 

That comes from Yahoo Japan, which reports that, as translated by Twitter users @Genki_JPN & @SEGAbits, Yuji Naka has received his sentencing for the insider trading allegations he got in 2022. According to the outlet, Naka was given a four-year suspension from a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence and fined ¥2 million (approx. $13.8k) and ¥171 million (approx. $1.18m) on top. 

Naka was first arrested back in November 2022 for suspected insider trading whilst working at Square Enix from 2016 to 2021. The Balan Wonderworld creator was said to have purchased 10,000 shares in mobile developer Aiming for ¥2.8 million ($20,000) before Square Enix announced it had signed a deal with Aiming to develop spin-off game Dragon Quest Tact.

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Shortly after, Naka was arrested again in December 2022 when it was alleged that the Dragon Quest Tact incident wasn't a one-time thing. Naka, along with fellow former Square Enix employee, Taisuke Sasaki, were both said to have bought shares in another developer called Ateam after discovering that the studio would be working on Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier - earning the pair "hundreds of millions of yen." 

Following this, Naka admitted in court that there was "no doubt" that he knew about Square Enix's plans with the Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy spin-offs prior to buying stock in Ateam and Aiming. According to the Yahoo Japan report about his final sentencing, the developer was said to show "remorse", resulting in his four-year suspended sentencing. 

Although no longer part of the series, Naka is still credited as contributing to the best Sonic games. 

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.