Ex-Sonic Team lead Yuji Naka apologizes for “unfinished” Balan Wonderworld

Yuji Naka, the former head of Sonic Team at Sega and the director of the disastrous musical platformer Balan Wonderworld, says he was removed from that game’s development six months before its completion, and that he sued publisher Square Enix over that decision. Naka claimed that his case in court is over, and that he no longer has to follow company guidelines. However, he did not reveal the resolution.

In a lengthy Twitter thread posted Thursday, Naka apologized to fans who bought Balan Wonderworld, which he described as “unfinished,” according to a translation of Naka’s comments.

According to Naka, he was removed as director of Balan Wonderworld by the game’s producer, head of marketing, head of sound, managing director, and human resources department for two reasons. One issue that caused conflict during development, Naka said, citing court documents, was a promotion that used a YouTuber’s piano arrangement of music from Balan Wonderworld, instead of the original composition. Naka said he insisted that the original be released. Arzest was the game’s creator. The second problem involved a dispute with Naka over the game’s quality. Naka claimed that he had made suggestions to Arzest regarding improvements to Balan Wonderworld and bugs fixes, which led to an “endangered” relationship between Arzest and Naka.

Naka also apologized for not interfacing with fans on social media. Square Enix had restricted him from doing so. He said he believes that Square Enix does not value game fans or games themselves, based on his experience developing Balan Wonderworld.

Citing his work in the original Sonic the Hedgehog , Naka recalled that the game had been changed two weeks prior to its completion. This was so Sonic could fight if he still had one ring. Naka said this design choice was the result of improving the game’s design until the very end, and that he wasn’t afforded a similar opportunity as director of Balan Wonderworld. He said he ultimately involved a lawyer to negotiate with Square Enix on changes to the game, but was refused and filed suit.

Polygon reached out to Square Enix about Naka’s comments. We will keep you updated when Square Enix responds.

Balan Wonderworld was announced in July 2020 as a new game from Sonic the Hedgehog and Nights Into Dreams creators Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima, the designer of Sonic and founder of Arzest. Balan Wonderworld was released on multiple platforms in March 2021, and was a critical and commercial flop. Naka said he left Square Enix just a few months later, and floated the idea of retiring from the games industry.