UPDATE: Yuji Naka Arrested Again For Another Insider Trading Scheme

Update, 12/7/2022: Balan Wonderworld director Yuji Naka has been re-arrested on a second charge of insider trading, this time involving the mobile battle royale title Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier. 

Last month, Naka and former Square Enix employee Taisuke Sazaki were arrested on suspicion of buying shares in developer Aiming after learning in advance about the team’s announcement of its mobile game Dragon Quest Tact (see the full original story below). Japanese outlet Asashi (thanks Video Games ChronicleAccording to a report, Naka and Sazaki tried an identical scheme to reveal Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier.

Ashai points out that Square Enix and developer Ateam announced in February 2021 a partnership for the development of mobile battle royale. Naka and Sazaki are said to have known the details of this deal before it became public and buying shares in Ateam in hopes of profiting off a higher stock price stemming from The First Soldier’s reveal. 

Naka was reported to have bought 120,000 shares at a cost of 144.7 million Japanese yen, or roughly $1 million. Sazaki, who is charged with purchasing 91,000 shares at a cost of approximately 105million yen ($767,000), and passing on this information to an associate who purchased shares. Square Enix previously stated it’s fully cooperating with the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission and Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office’s investigations. 

Square Enix had announced in October that Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier would be shut down on January 11. 

Original Story, 9/9/2022Yuji Naka, legendary Sonic designer and Balan Wonderworld director has been taken into custody in Tokyo. This is in connection with an investigation into insider trading that involved the revelation of Dragon Quest. 

According to Japanese news outlets FNNIn the past 24 hours, Taisuke Sazaki (ex-Square Enix employee) and Fumiaki Suzuki Suzuki were arrested for suspected insider trading. Developer Aiming was set to launch its mobile game Dragon Quest Tact in 2020. However, Sazaki, Suzuki and other suspects are said to have been privy to details of the game prior to it being made public. The pair reportedly purchased a combined 162,000 shares of Aiming for roughly 47.2 million yen (or over $335,000) in advance with the intent of profiting on a potentially higher stock price stemming from Tact’s announcement. 

Yuji Naga is also being suspected. He is accused of purchasing 10,000 shares worth 2.8 million yen (roughly $20,000) in Aiming for the same purpose of profiting from Tact’s reveal. Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office arrested Naka and is continuing the investigation. It’s currently unknown if the suspects still own their shares or if they already sold them.  

This is Naka’s second controversy this year. In April, Naka publicly blasted Square Enix on Twitter over his removal as director from Balan Wonderworld prior to its release, blaming Square for the game’s critical failure. This outburst came after the conclusion of a lawsuit he’d previously filed against the publisher. Naka is perhaps best-known for his work on the Sega Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog and Nights into Dreams original Sonic the Hedgehog titles. 

[Source: FNN]