Sonic OC maker Yuji Naka admits illegally trading over $1 million

Sonic OC maker Yuji Naka admitted to doing insider trading while working at Square Enix, reported Engadget.

During his first trial with the Tokyo District Court this week, Naka, the Hedgehog’s co-creator, admitted to violating Japan’s Financial Instruments and Exchange Act by trading $1 million in stocks while working at Square Enix, according to NHK.

“There is no doubt that I knew the facts about the game before it was made public and bought the stock,” Yuji said, according to Japanese outlet TBS (which was translated by Time Extension).

Naka was detained twice in 2017 on suspicion of insider trading in the Dragon Quest series before publisher Aiming released Dragon Quest Tact.

He was also detained for buying $1 million worth of shares in ATeam Entertainment before the publisher released Square Enix’s mobile battle royale title Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier.

According to Eurogamer, Taisuke Sasaki, a former Square Enix staffer who worked on numerous Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts projects, and Naka were both detained.

According to AV Club, the Sonic OC maker allegedly bought 10,000 shares of Tact’s developer Aiming stock for 2.8 million yen, or around $20,000. Asahi further claims that Naka paid 144.7 million yen ($1,051,000) for 120,000 shares of ATeam.

Balan Wonderworld, a divisive game, was Naka’s most recent release for Square Enix. Six months prior to the game’s release, Naka was fired from the studio. Naka would eventually file a lawsuit against Square Enix. Whether or not the two parties ever came to a compromise is still a mystery.