Balan Wonderworld was something of a disappointment both critically and commercially, and it appears that disappointment has caused director Yuji Naka to leave Square Enix. Naka is probably best known for his time at Sega, where he was one of the co-creators of Sonic the Hedgehog and served as a programmer and producer on several games.
The news of his departure comes via Naka’s LinkedIn and Facebook pages, which were recently updated to show that he had departed Square Enix on April 30th. The updates were first spotted and translated by VGChronicle. Square Enix has not officially confirmed Naka’s departure.
Naka formed Balan Company, an internal studio at Square Enix composed of several veteran developers including Naoto Ohshima, the artist who created the original designs for Sonic the Hedgehog, to develop the game. It is not clear what Naka’s departure would mean for the studio or any of its staff members.
