Yuji Naka, Co-Creator of Sonic, Receives Suspended Prison Sentence for Insider Trading

Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka has received a suspended fine of about 1.1 million euros in Japan, as well as a suspended prison sentence of 2.5 years. His probationary period will last four years. Naka has been found guilty of insider trading.

The 57-year-old Naka was accused of buying shares in game companies with which his employer Square Enix would cooperate. By making these purchases before the collaboration became public, he managed to make a lot of profit on the shares. It would concern shares in developer Aiming, who later made a Dragon Quest game with Square Enix. He later did the same with developer Ateam, who would make a Final Fantasy game.

According to the Japanese news agency Jiji Press Naka and an accomplice are said to have brought in ‘hundreds of millions of yen’ with the practices. For example, 200 million yen is worth almost 1.3 million euros.

Naka is credited with Naoto Ohshima as the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog, for Sega, in the 1990s. That character made his first playable debut in Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Mega Drive. Naka was also involved in making the games Nights into Dreams, Samba de Amigo, Puyo Pop and Balan Wonderworld.

Yuji Naka in 2015, beld via Wikipedia under license
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2023-07-07 17:23:10
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