Sonic the Hedgehog Creator Arrested for Alleged Insider Trading

[Hydrogen]

Naka Yuji, best known for creating the iconic “Sonic the Hedgehog” game, was arrested by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office Friday on charges of insider trading. 

According to an official announcement by investigators, Naka allegedly obtained sensitive information regarding a new game for smartphones in the popular “Dragon Quest” series in January 2020, while employed by major game maker Square Enix. The game was being developed by Square Enix and online game production company Aiming. 

Prior to the announcement of the information, Naka allegedly purchased 10,000 shares of Aiming stock for approximately JPY2.8 million ($20,000), a violation of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law.   

Two other men, a former Square Enix employee and his acquaintance, have also been arrested for pre-announcement purchases of Aiming shares. It is not yet known whether any of the trio sold their stock.     

Now aged 57, Naka was working for Sega in the late 1980s when he came up with the idea for the “Sonic” game as a competitor for the mega-hit “Super Mario” game series. Released in 1991, “Sonic” became a breakthrough for Sega, enabling it to grab a majority market share from rival Nintendo.

Naka, however, felt that he was not being properly credited for his contribution to the company’s bottom line and quit to join the American Sega Technical Institute. There he continued to develop new iterations of the “Sonic” game but, after reconciling with the parent company, returned to Japan in 1994. 

In 2006, Naka left Sega to launch his own game company, Prope, making games for the Nintendo Wii device. In 2016, he joined Square Enix, but left the company earlier in 2022 after he was removed as director of the game “Balan Wonderworld.” A lawsuit against his former employer followed, and, on Nov. 18, his arrest for insider trading.



https://variety.com/2022/gaming/news/sonic-the-hedgehog-naka-yuji-arrested-1235436767/

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It seems he timed his stock buy in to coincide with the new announcement that would be forthcoming. Square Enix is subcontracting development of dragon quest mobile to a smaller developer called aiming. I'm not certain how common insider trading is in the corporate world. Certainly there could be a lot of money made with inside information. Politicians in the united states are able to trade assets using inside information legally, which I do not mind. Better if they can earn all of their wealth trading stocks rather than accepting bribes. Hopefully this is a "what ever happened to the creator of the Sonic the Hedgehog gaming franchise" story that Naka Yuji can bounce back from like a champ.

The creator of yugioh also passed away recently. R.I.P. They say that the yugioh creator drowned while attempting to save others from rough seas. Shinzo Abe also was assassinated. 2022 has to be one of the worst years for japan in a long time.

[cabron]

The Two other men must have been doing this for a long time. Someone got their back, they were not named in the article.
If Naka Yuji is not a trader yet suddenly spends that much on a single stock, he sure is suspicious knowing he has a relationship with the company.
Inside trading is sure rampant, the husband of Pelosi was rumored of inside trading just this year when he got involved in trading before the announcement of the Chip Act just this Aug.

It must be a greedy world out there. I remember a British series about Inside Trading called Cleaning Up where they all just plan pump and dump. But a cleaning lady desperate to make money just eavesdropping and sneaking to the calls of the boss in the office so she could also execute her trading.

I just googled and saw DRAGON QUEST TREASURES is coming to Nintendo Switch on December 9th, 2022!

[Hispo]

Oh. I saw this on Youtube. Quite a scandal
Perhaps, his decision to get involved in this financial crime had something to do with the failure of his latest project made in collaboration with Squeare Enix: Balan Wonderworld; it was a disaster and very negatively received by both the press and the players.

Naka probably saw how the earnings from the game disappeared because the bad reception/poor development advance, and decided to use that information to pocket some money for himself.

[STT]

Not that unknown for rumors to spread on developments but trading while quite closely linked is asking to be caught and punished because you are so obviously part of the news and with prerelease knowledge.  Quite a few with no obvious link probably get away with it, definitely not a perfect system but it was arrogant of him to think others would not track this down.   Quite possibly it was used against him as he fell out with past colleagues, I guess.   
  Hard not to be arrogant and ego driven when you invented Sonic but also when you have that legacy be grateful for past luck perhaps, try to repeat your inspirations   I understand development is often frustrating and restrained in their creative pursuits.

[Casdinyard]

Saddening news for the fans of the game and the series as a whole, but at this point the creation has become bigger than its creator so regular fans like me aren't that devastated by the news more so angered or annoyed at the concept of the guy committing such crime. Although I think the case on point of him committing such crime could be caused by an unexpected flop of his previous titles, add to this the fact he was removed as head for Balan Wonderland which in itself is a great game according to critics. Price manipulation is a grave offense for me in all its form and insider trading isn't spared from this. Just hoping that he still could have a life ahead of him after all of this is done, he was a talented guy for being able to create one of the most memorable game titles in the history of gaming, I hope this isn't the end for him.