Yuji Naka: Last News

Sonic the Hedgehog and the president of Sega‘s Sonic Team for 16 years, has been sentenced and fined for insider trading in his time with Square Enix.READ MORE: Watch a historical weapons expert break down combat in ‘Final Fantasy XVI’The report from Jiji Press (via Video Games Chronicle) stated that Naka has been given a a suspended sentence of two years and six months in prison, with four years probation. As well as this, he faces two fines totalling $1.2million (£935k).Naka committed the crime with fellow Square Enix employees Taisuke Sazaki and Fumiaki Suzuki in order to secure advantageous shares in developers Aiming and Ateam, based on information that had not been publicised about their games Dragon Quest Tact and Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier.In November 2022, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office arrested Naka and charged him with violating the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act of 2006 for his $20,000 (£16k) shares in Aiming.

Sonic Team head Yuji Naka has confirmed that Michael Jackson created music for Sonic The Hedgehog 3.In a tweet posted today (June 23), Naka – who was also the producer for Sonic The Hedgehog 3 – confirmed a long-running rumour that Michael Jackson created music for the game.“Oh my god, the music for Sonic 3 has changed, even though Sega Official uses Michael Jackson’s music,” said Naka, expressing disappointment over Sega’s decision to change the music of Sonic The Hedgehog 3 for its re-release in Sonic Origins.One of the tracks changed in Sonic Origins is ‘Carnival Night Zone’, one of the songs that Jackson was rumoured to have created. In the below video, you can listen to the new tracks created for Sonic Origins in comparison to their original counterparts in Sonic The Hedgehog 3.Shortly after confirming Jackson’s involvement, Naka shared a picture of Jackson’s Neverland Ranch from above, which he says he took “when we went to his house in his helicopter”.This is a picture taken by me with my camera when we went to his house in his helicopter.