Former Sonic Team lead Yuji Naka has apparently left Square Enix. His official Facebook and LinkedIn pages have been updated to show that he no longer works at the company, which he was employed at since January 2018. According to the update, he left on April 30, 2021. Naka's most recent project for Square Enix was Balan Wonderworld, which he directed; it released in March of this year, and was met with negative reviews from critics and players. Neither Naka or Square made mention as to the reason for the departure, though many seem to be speculating that the disappointing sales and critical reception are behind it. For now, he has returned to his own company, Prope, which just celebrated its 15th anniversary.

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[Hells Malice]

If I made Balan Wonderworld i'd probably quit game design altogether and switch to stocking shelves

 

[TheCosmicWarrior]

I legitimately feel sorry for the guy, he's out of a job now. I remember Square Enix said they'd only give him one chance at a 3d platformer to see if he could continue working with them.

 

[N10A]

I know that Balan Wonderworld is a popular game to hate on but if you look closer at the game there actually are some underlying good qualities. Unfortunately it seems that the game wasn't given enough time in the oven, so the genuinely good character design and talent that went into the game got wasted because of the terrible impression it made. If only the game had been play-tested more and delayed a bit it would have lived up to the hype.

 

[Xzi]

I remember Square Enix said they'd only give him one chance at a 3d platformer to see if he could continue working with them.

Which is kind of ridiculous considering nobody at Squeenix has any real experience making platformers. They were probably expecting him to fail.

 

[Hells Malice]

I know that Balan Wonderworld is a popular game to hate on but if you look closer at the game there actually are some underlying good qualities. Unfortunately it seems that the game wasn't given enough time in the oven, so the genuinely good character design and talent that went into the game got wasted because of the terrible impression it made. If only the game had been play-tested more and delayed a bit it would have lived up to the hype.

God I hope this is satire

 

[N10A]

God I hope this is satire

Nope. Sorry to disappoint. Although on second thought I'm probably wrong about it living up to the hype, it definitely wouldn't have been as disappointing.

 

[Jayro]

If only the game had been play-tested more and delayed a bit it would have lived up to the hype.

...There was hype?

 

[SS4]

Square is a shadow of its former self anyways.
They were epic back in the PS1 and through most of the PS2 era.
I feel like near the end of the PS2 era and through the PS3 one they were on a downward slope . . .

 

[vincentx77]

He's been coasting on name recognition for years, though. The last game he made that received decent critical scores was Sonic Rush (and Phantasy Star Universe in Japan), and that was nearly 16 years ago. He's clearly not at the level he was when he made Burning Rangers and Nights. I would've only given him one shot, too. Honestly, I'm not sure I'd have given him that. He needs to do something small that's actually good and build his reputation back up.

 

[Sakuraibr]

Nope. Sorry to disappoint. Although on second thought I'm probably wrong about it living up to the hype, it definitely wouldn't have been as disappointing.

Can relate to this. Yuji Naka is talented and put a great creative design altogether for that game. However, for an ambicious new 3D platformer from the "former Sonic creator" unfortunately the responsibility is something that goes past him and falls atop Square Enix's heads. If he went the Kickstarter way of doing business or a company open enough to give him more time and the requeired budget accordingly, that's another thing (and yet, he has a big share as a producer, not a game director). When the demo first came out, with the given reception it's basically impossible for any serious company to not have noticed the way that boat was going it would sink, yet, Square Enix still followed their very same schedule to "release it just in time".
I honestly feel bad for him and I hope he can be reallocated to something serious this time, because whenever talking Square Enix business model and its organization it is always basically a joke.

 

[x65943]

Watched a few reviews, a one button game? Even a Gameboy has 2 buttons, what is wrong with this guy

 

[linuxares]

God I hope this is satire

Kingdom Hearts be like "Am I a joke to you"?

 

[Kwyjor]

I know that Balan Wonderworld is a popular game to hate on but if you look closer at the game there actually are some underlying good qualities. Unfortunately it seems that the game wasn't given enough time in the oven, so the genuinely good character design and talent that went into the game got wasted because of the terrible impression it made. If only the game had been play-tested more and delayed a bit it would have lived up to the hype.

I thought this video was particularly insightful.

(No doubt the game has been a gift to video game commentators if nothing else.)

Of particular note there is that Prope was pretty much reduced to just one employee.

 

[MaxToTheMax]

Who would have thunk it?

 

[N10A]

I thought this video was particularly insightful.

(No doubt the game has been a gift to video game commentators if nothing else.)

Of particular note there is that Prope was pretty much reduced to just one employee.

That was actually the video I was thinking of. Thanks for posting it.

 

[MiiJack]

What it could gave been and what it actually is are different things. They should have scaled it down and reviewed some design (why a platformer where every action is tied to one button is beyond me, jumping should've been separate, not a freaking ability).

 

[Randy Steele]

I was legitimately excited for Balan Wonderland (yes I know that's not what it's called) until I nearly picked it up when I saw it was out and quickly checked out reviews before not doing that. It was too bad. He should go work for Bandai Namco and pitch a new Klonoa game. Klonoa always gave me strong Sonic Team vibes.

 

[MarkDarkness]

Overdue... talentless hack. Never made one good game.

 

[tech3475]

I know that Balan Wonderworld is a popular game to hate on but if you look closer at the game there actually are some underlying good qualities. Unfortunately it seems that the game wasn't given enough time in the oven, so the genuinely good character design and talent that went into the game got wasted because of the terrible impression it made. If only the game had been play-tested more and delayed a bit it would have lived up to the hype.

From what I’ve seen/heard, it seems like core aspects of the game are bad by design e.g. the control scheme.

The game basically needed reworking on a fundamental level and possibly even a restart, something time on it’s own may not have been enough to solve depending on those involved i.e. they could have had all the time in the world and still not fix it.