Sonic The Hedgehog Co-Creator Yuji Naka has been officially indicted alongside former Square Enix employee Taisuke Sasaki since their arrests for Insider Trading in the latter half of 2022.
According to the NHK by Video Games Chronicle, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office determined that Naka and Sasaki had confidential information concerning Square Enix’s future IP, namely Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, a mobile game being developed in collaboration with A Team Entertainment. It alleged that Naka used that knowledge to purchase ¥144.7 million ($834,000) in company stock, allegedly repeating what he did with Dragon Quest Tact and its’ developer Aiming, where he also purchased 2.8 million yen ($20,000) in Aiming stock. According to VGC, Sasaki allegedly did the same, purchasing 105 million yen ($787,318) in Square Enix stock.
Naka was first arrested for his dealings with Dragon Quest Tact alongside Sasaki and another former Square Enix employee named Fumiaki Suzuki in November. Naka’s second arrest in December was due to his involvement in Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier. The news of the influential creator’s arrest unsurprisingly sent shock waves throughout the community with speculation still running rampant as to the reasoning behind his actions. In a statement to the VGC, Square Enix detailed its involvement in the investigation following the arrests.
“Today, some media outlets reported that the former employees of Square Enix were under investigation for suspected insider trading,” said Square. “…We have been fully cooperating with requests from the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission. As the investigation by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office is underway, we will continue to fully cooperate with the investigation. We deeply regret the great concern this has caused to all concerned. We have dealt with this incident strictly, including internal disciplinary actions taken against the suspected employees.”
It is unknown when Naka or Sasaki will stand trial. Information regarding Fumiaki Suzuki is also currently unknown.