Yuji Naka, the co-creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, has moved to the world of indie games following the disappointing release of Balan Wonderworld.
Naka posted on Twitter today that he was celebrating his 56th birthday and revealed that he’s literally gone back to the drawing board, learning how to code again.
“Thank you for your birthday messages, I’m 56 years old,” he tweeted.
“I’ve recently started learning how to program again, and I’m working on a simple game for smartphones with Unity. I’m making it by myself, so it’s not much, but I’m enjoying programming it. I hope you’ll be able to play with the app when it’s available.”
Naka confirmed in June thathe had left publisher Square Enixand was even considering retiring from game development altogether.
“Because of inquiries from the media and users, I can confirm I resigned fromSquare Enixat the end of April 2021,” he wrote on Twitter at the time.
“I can’t tell you why right now, but I hope to be able to tell you when the time comes. As for my future activities, I’m already 55 years old, so I might retire.”
誕生日メッセージありがとうございます56歳です最近またプログラムの勉強を始めていまして、Unityでスマートフォン向けの簡単なゲームを作っています。1人で作っているので大した物ではないのですが、ゲーム作りのプログラミングは楽しいですね。アプリが配信出来ましたら遊んで頂けると嬉しいですpic.twitter.com/0UgI2c3ELR
Naka’s exit followed the disappointing release ofBalan Wonderworld, which he directed.
Balan Wonderworld released in March to overwhelmingly negative reviews, with the game’sMetacritic scorecurrently ranging from 36 to 51. Commercially, the titleappearsto have been just as disappointing.
Naka had formed a new studio within Square, Balan Company, for the creation of Wonderworld, which was comprised of a collection of veteran developers includingNaoto Ohshima, the artist who created the original designs for Sonic the Hedgehog.
Yuji Nakahad previously claimed thatBalan Wonderworld was his “one chance” to create a new platform gamesince leavingSegain 2006.
