As theSonicseries celebrates its 30th anniversary, there are many people that follow along with the career path of one of its original creators. Yuji Naka, the lead programmer on the originalSonic the Hedgehogand former head of Sonic Team, has been part of Square Enix for the last few years directingBalan Wonderworld. Now, it seems like that is no longer the case.
Boasting a prolific career in the games industry, Yuji Naka has been part of several games such asNights into Dreams, Phantasy Star Online, plus numerous projects in theSonicseries. As many may know, his most recent work has been developingSquare Enix’sBalan Wonderworld,through a subsidiary studio called Balan Company. The plot ofBalan Wonderworldfollows two children as they interact with Balan, a magical being in a mysterious theater, traveling to several worlds to help restore happiness to the people in them in the process.
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ThoughBalan Wonderworldonly released a few month ago, Yuji Naka’s time at Square Enix has come to an end. Reporter Andres Lopez noticed that Yuji Naka updated his Facebook profile in a couple ways to indicate the change. Naka has replaced a previous profile picture of him wearing aBalanhat with a more ubiquitous headshot.
Secondly, Lopez noticed that theBalan Wonderworlddirector’s work history changed as well. On his profile, it notes thatYuji Naka joined Square Enix in 2018, and now states that he worked there through June 04, 2025. Naka’s indie game development studio, Prope, is still listed as a current occupation, which is no surprise.
The amalgamation of unfortunate circumstances surroundingBalan Wonderworldlikely drove either Naka to leave Square Enix, or Square Enix to fire him. The public demo forBalan Wonderworldwas criticized for being unpolished and buggy, and the official release didn’t receive hugely different critiques. The game also experienced anawkward case of positive review bombingright after its release. There are definitely fans of the game, and players who truly enjoyed Naka’s newest project. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to make the game a success.
With news of Naka’s exit from Square Enix, it’s also unclear what will become of Balan Company. The subsidiary studio was formed within Square Enix specifically for Naka, and while it has potential to create more games, Square Enix might not want to be associated with that name. Either way, while it is clear thatBalan Wonderworldwasn’t a success, Naka’s career hasn’t ended. Fans will just need to keep an eye out to see what interesting creations he can develop next.
Balan Wonderworldis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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