The Yuji Naka insider trading saga has now come to a close, with the former Sonic game developer receiving a hefty prison sentence for insider trading at Square Enix.
The story begins back in 2018, when the co-creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, Yuji Naka was hired at Square Enix. Fast forward to April 2022, the developer explained in a series of Tweets that he sued Square Enix for what was thought to be a wrongful termination. He was then arrested on suspicion of insider trading in December 2022. Subsequently, Yuji Naka admitted to insider trading regarding two mobile games in development at Square Enix, Dragon Quest Tact and Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, in March 2023. This brings us to today, where the fallen from-grace developer has received a sentence for this whole saga.
A short recap on the details regarding the mobile titles, Yuji Naka was said to have information about them before their release and even went so far as to have Dragon Quest 11‘s Taisuke Sazaki join him in investing in ATeam Entertainment before Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier was made public. Naka and Sazaki were also in cahoots when they purchased thousands of Aiming’s stock before the official Dragon Quest Tact reveal. The situation was so definitively insider trading that Naka himself admitted, “There is no doubt that I knew the facts about the game before it was made public and bought the stock” in March.
Today, this long saga has come to a close, as it seems Yuji Naka has been sentenced for his crimes. Denfaminicogamer.jp reports “The court demanded a prison term of 2 years and 6 months, a fine of 2.5 million yen, and a fine of 170 million yen” as the court found Naka “gained illicit profits from a position significantly more advantageous than general investors, and undermined the fairness of the market” after his guilty plea. These results likely bring the issue to a close, but we will keep readers updated if the situation changes in the future.
