Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka has had something of a varied career since leaving Sega, initially focusing on his own company Prope before teaming up with Square Enix to direct the ill-fated Balan Wonderworld. The latter wasn't a great game, and ever since release Naka and the publisher have been engaged in something of a moral blame game, as well as a wider war of words sparked by an insider trading case brought against Naka and two other Square Enix employees in 2022.