{"id":576983,"date":"2026-03-16T05:34:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T05:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/sonic-creator-yuji-naka-was-removed-as-director-of-balan-wonderworld-before-disastrous-launch"},"modified":"2026-03-16T05:34:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T05:34:31","slug":"sonic-creator-yuji-naka-says-he-was-removed-as-director-of-balan-wonderworld-before-disastrous-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/sonic-creator-yuji-naka-says-he-was-removed-as-director-of-balan-wonderworld-before-disastrous-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"Sonic creator Yuji Naka says he was removed as director of Balan Wonderworld before disastrous launch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/sonic-creator-yuji-naka-says-he-was-removed-as-director-of-balan-wonderworld-before-disastrous-launch.jpg\" \/> <\/p>\n<p>\nYuji Naka, best known as the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, says he was removed as director of Balan Wonderworld six months before its launch by Square Enix. <\/p>\n<p>\nThe revelation comes from a Twitter thread posted by Yuji where states he filed a lawsuit against Square Enix following his dismissal, which has now been settled. <\/p>\n<p>\nLast year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/sonic-creator-yuji-naka-leaves-square-enix-after-balan-wonderworld-flop-may-retire\">Yuji left Square Enix following the disastrous launch of Balan Wonderworld<\/a>, which sold less than 2100 copies in its opening week in Japan. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/sonic-creator-yuji-naka-was-removed-as-director-of-balan-wonderworld-before-disastrous-launch\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/sonic-creator-yuji-naka-was-removed-as-director-of-balan-wonderworld-before-disastrous-launch\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yuji Naka, best known as the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, says he was removed as director of Balan Wonderworld six months before its launch by Square Enix. The revelation comes from a Twitter thread posted by Yuji where states he filed a lawsuit against Square Enix following his dismissal, which has now been settled. Last year, Yuji left Square Enix following the disastrous launch of Balan Wonderworld, which sold less than 2100 copies in its opening week in Japan. Read more Source<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":576984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[230],"tags":[259,847,21,44,45,60,4616],"class_list":["post-576983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eurogamer","tag-action-adventure","tag-balan-wonderworld","tag-nintendo-switch","tag-ps4","tag-ps5","tag-xbox-one","tag-xbox-series-x-s"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sonic creator Yuji Naka says he was removed as director of Balan Wonderworld before disastrous launch | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Yuji Naka, best known as the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, says he was removed as director of Balan Wonderworld six months before its launch by Square\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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