The creator of the iconic 'Sonic the Hedgehog' game, Naka Yuji, was arrested on Friday by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on charges of insider trading.
According to Variety, the official announcement by investigators states that Naka allegedly obtained sensitive information regarding a new game for smartphones in the popular 'Dragon Quest' series in January 2020, while employed by major game maker Square Enix.
The game was being developed by Square Enix and online game production company Aiming.
Naka allegedly broke the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law when he bought 10,000 shares of Aiming stock for about JPY2.8 million, prior to the disclosure of the information.
For this purchase of Aiming shares, two additional males, including a former Square Enix employee and his acquaintance, have also been detained. It is unknown at this time which of the trio sold their stock.
Naka was working for Sega in the late 1980s when he came up with the idea for the 'Sonic' game as a competitor for the mega-hit 'Super Mario' game series.
Sega achieved a breakthrough with the 1991 release of 'Sonic', which allowed it to overtake rival Nintendo and take the majority of the market, as per Variety.
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