Japanese designer co-creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, Yuji Naka obviously has many contacts in the world of video games, and he has access to sensitive information before anyone else. And nowhe finds himself arrested in Japan, in the company of members of Square-Enixaccused of insider trading. As a reminder, the designer had joined Square-Enix to develop Balan Wonderworldbefore leaving the studio last year.
Fumiaki Suzuki, Taisuke Sasaki and therefore Yuji Naka were arrested by Japanese police yesterday and are accused of buying shares inAiming Co before the announcement of Dragon Quest Tact in 2020. A classic insider trading: the defendants were aware of the announcement before the time, they bought shares of the development company and, when the game was formalized, the company’s action was soared, as did the value of their shares. And when it hits DragonQuest, an ultra-famous franchise in Japan, this is counted in millions of yen. According to information fromAutomaton, Fumiaki Suzuki and Taisuke Sasaki reportedly bought 47 million yen worth of shares in Aiming Co (about 325,000 euros)while Fuji News Network affirm that Yuji Naka reportedly bought 10,000 shares for 2.8 million yen (€19,000). No newspaper specifies whether the defendants have since sold their shares, which have appreciated enormously in value after the announcement of Dragon Quest Tact.
On his side, Square-Enix shared a statementclaiming to work in collaboration with the investigators in order to clarify this serious matter. The Japanese publisher and developer also specifies that disciplinary sanctions will be taken against former employees and that it will strengthen its internal measures to avoid any new cases of insider trading.
The dad of sonic behind bars, no one expected such an announcement, while the blue hedgehog just made his return last week in Sonic Frontierssold €53.99 on Gamesplanet.
| Clint008 Writer – Tester |
