Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka has received a suspended prison sentence and fines of approximately $1.2 million (or 173 million yen) after being found guilty of insider trading. according to a report from the Japan News Center you (through Polygon). While the court handed down a prison sentence of 2.5 years, you reports that it has been suspended for four years.
That means Naka shouldn’t end up behind bars any time soon, as judges typically waive jail time if the defendant doesn’t commit any new crimes during that time. Naka was arrested twice last year for his involvement in two separate insider trading incidents, both of which took place in 2020 when Naka worked at Square Enix.
Naka joined Square Enix to work on the poorly received Balan Wonderworld
In the first case, Naka and two colleagues bought 162,000 shares worth about $332,000 (47.2 million yen) in the game developer Aiming before Square Enix told the public it was working with the studio on mobile. Dragon quest game. The three men were arrested last November.
The other incident, for which Naka was arrested just a month later, implies that Naka and a colleague from Square Enix reportedly purchased 120,000 shares worth more than $1 million (144.7 million yen) in another game studio the company was planning to partner with. The studio in question, Ateam, collaborated with Square Enix on the mobile game Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier. The court’s ruling applies to both cases.
Naka joined Sega in 1983 where he helped create the iconic Sonic the Hedgehog character. After leaving Sega in 2006, Naka joined Square Enix to work on the poorly received Balance Wonderworld from 2018 to 2021. Naka says he was kicked off the team six months before the game’s release and later filed a lawsuit against the company.
