Today in his first trial, former Sonic Team head Yuji Naka admits to having knowledge of unannounced games prior to buying stock in Square Enix partners.
As originally reported by TBS News DIG, and translated by Alex Kraus on Twitter, Naka stated in Tokyo District Court, “There is no doubt that I learned the facts about the game before it was announced and bought the stock.”
In December 2022, Naka was arrested twice under accusation of two insider trading incidents, including purchase of 2.8¥ million of stock in DRAGON QUEST TACT developer Aiming Inc. and 144.7¥ million of stock in Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier developer ATeam prior to each game’s announcement.
Naka was employed by Square Enix from 2018 through 2021, overseeing the development Balan Wonderworld with developer Arzest until he was removed from the project prior to launch.