Via Twitter, Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka confirmed his exit from Square Enix.
This comes weeks after the release of Balan Wonderworld back in March led to mixed and unfavorable reviews from fans and critics. He was in charge of the development team.
Fans had noticed days ago of changes on Naka’s LinkedIn and Facebook accounts stating that he was no longer working for Square Enix.
“Due to inquiries from the media and users on Twitter, [I am announcing that] I resigned from Square Enix at the end of April 2021. I cannot tell you why right now, but I hope to be able to tell you when the time comes. As for my future plans, I’m already 55 years old, so retirement is in the cards. Here is a photo that was taken for the Sega Console Historia interview.”
メディアの方やユーザーさんにお問い合わせ頂くので、2021年4月末でスクエニを退職いたしました。理由は今はお話出来ませんが、時が来ればお話出来ればと思います。今後の活動については、もう55歳なので引退もありかも知れませんね。写真はセガハードヒストリアの取材で撮って頂いた写真になります。 pic.twitter.com/YgFT0eq2Jk
— Yuji Naka / 中 裕司 (@nakayuji) June 5, 2021
Naka-san has worked for Sega for over 20 years. While at Sega, he worked on the game development for Sonic the Hedgehog, Nights into Dreams, and the Phantasy Star titles. He continues to be the CEO of his own company Prope Ltd.
Balan Wonderworld was the first game from Balan Company, a Square Enix studio founded by Naka. He had said Square Enix gave him “one chance” to make a platform game.
[Sources]: Siliconera: Yuji Naka Confirms Square Enix Departure, Considering Retirement – [Archive]. GamesIndustry.biz: Yuji Naka no longer working at Square Enix – [Archive]. @Nakayuki (Twitter): メディアの方やユーザーさんにお問い合わせ頂くので、2021年4月末でスクエニを退職いたしました。 – [Archive].