Balan Wonderworld has been one of the most resounding failures of recent years, whether for Square-Enix or for its creator, Yuji Naka, the famous mastermind behind Sonic. Just days after the release of the title, we learned that Yuji Naka was no longer working with Square Enix, which suggested that things had soured behind the scenes following the poor reception of the title. But the creator tells us today that it is much earlier than that.
The creator reveals everything and attacks Square Enix
Six months before the launch of #BalanWonderworld, a work order was issued removing me as director, so I filed a lawsuit in court against Square Enix. I would like to tell you that the court case is over and the work order is no longer in effect at this time. use translation tool pic.twitter.com/U53SgNMh85
— Yuji Naka / 中裕司 (@nakayuji) April 28, 2022
In a series of tweets, Yuji Naka has the floor today to explain this whole affair a little better, and the story behind the failure of the game. He then indicates that he has taken Square Enix to court, and that now that the proceedings are over, he can finally speak about it publicly. :
” Six months before the launch of Balan Wonderworld, I was removed from my position as director, so I filed a lawsuit against Square Enix. I’d like to tell you that the court case is over […] Square Enix doesn’t care about games and game fans, and that’s not a good thing. »
He then explains that he was dismissed from his post for two reasons. The first would be his challenge following a promotional video in which a YouTuber played one of the themes of the rearranged game, where Yuji Naka insisted that the original track be published instead. The second reason would be the deterioration of his relationship with the Arzest studio, when Yuji Naka wanted to fix the game’s bugs while Arzest wanted to move forward despite everything.
He indicates that it was not him or the teams who wanted to leave Balan Wonderworld in this state, and apologizes to all the people who bought the game. He considers himself to be very disappointed to have been excluded from the project and not to have had time to finish it. And he does not hesitate to openly criticize Square Enix for this :
” I believe that when making games, asking for fixes in order to do something right should be a no-brainer, and if that’s not possible, it needs to be discussed, but it seems that’s not the case. I don’t think they really enjoy games. »
This post-mortem now allows us to better understand the failure of the game. The fact that a creator as renowned as Yuji Naka directly attacks a major publisher like Square Enix on social networks and in court is also quite unprecedented, and given the latter’s recent commercial failures, it would be interesting to see if that helps loosen a few tongues about similar situations.