Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: entertainment, games, HRL, sonic, sonic the hedgehog, video games, yuji naka

The Creator of Sonic the Hedgehog Has Joined Square Enix

Published Mon, 22 Jan 2018 10:45:44 -0600

Lead programmer on the original Sonic the Hedgehog Yuji Naka has announced that he has moved to Square Enix.

Back in 1991, Naka was seen as one of the key figures of the iconic blue hedgehog's first game, meaning he has a pretty big legacy in the world of video games. He was a huge part of the series for a while after, eventually becoming the head of Sonic Team and is seen as one of the most influential people in the franchise's history. He did leave the series back in 2006 to form a new studio called Prope. That team has been quiet since the Wii release of Rodea the Sky Soldier in 2015, though, leading many to wonder what was up next for the developer.

Well, it seems what's up is he is moving to one of the biggest games companies in the entire world. Naka took to Twitter to announce his movement to Square Enix. He didn't talk about what game he has gone to work on, or even hint at what it could be, but it does seem like there is indeed one in particular he is taking on. He said:

Just a quick note to let you know, I joined SQUARE ENIX in January.
I'm joining game development as before, and strive to develop games at SQUARE ENIX.
I aim to develop an enjoyable game, please look forward to it.

— Yuji Naka / 中　裕司 (@nakayuji) January 22, 2018

It's always exciting to see big developers make moves in the industry. There aren't too many household names in games when it comes to developers, so when someone recognisable makes the jump to another company, it will always set the mind racing. Here's hoping whatever the developer is going to work on, he's given the right resources to chase that vision.

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