Yuji Naka has published a series of tweets this morning, criticizing Square Enix and the situation surroundingBalan Wonderworld. According to Naka’s thread, Square Enix removed him from the director’s role before launch.
The threadshared todaystarts with Naka saying he was removed as director ofBalan Wonderworldapproximately half a year before launch. The decision was ultimately made by the producer, promotional partner, sound director, project director, and HR. Naka says this led him to file in court over the matter. (Translation viaVGCand@Cheesemeister3k/Twitter.)
The conflict comes down to two points. The first was a promotion involving a YouTuber arranging one of the in-game songs, rather than using the original score. The other, arguably larger dispute, involved co-developer Arzest submitting a final build without fixing bugs, according to Naka. Eventually, he says he asked his lawyer to negotiate to allow him to address issues inBalan Wonderworlduntil the very end and, when that failed, ultimately decided to file in court.
“Personally, I believe that it is a true disgrace thatBalan Wonderworldwas released in the state that it was in,” Naka writes, via VGC’s translation. “I wanted to show the world an action game in its proper light. Therefore, I believe that Square Enix and Arzest are companies that care about neither games nor their fans.”
バランワンダーワールド発売の約半年前にバランワンダーワールドのディレクターから外される業務命令が出されましたので、スクウェアエニックスに対して裁判所で訴訟を提起していました。裁判が終わり業務命令が現時点で効力は失われていると言う事ですので、お話したいと思います。#BalanWonderworldpic.twitter.com/9KE7hLqfor
— Yuji Naka / 中 裕司 (@nakayuji)July 29, 2025
We’ve reached out to Square Enix for comment.
Anyway, here’sWonderworld
Nakaleft Square Enix in 2021, following the extremely rough launch ofBalan Wonderworld. The new character platformer from Yuji Naka was very poorly received, withlow salesand thedemo being takendown after launch.
According to the former director, it is because of these issues thatBalan Wonderworldreceived all the “criticisms and comments.” Whether theBalanboat could have been righted or not, it’s a pretty surprising series of tweets to see from the longtime creator.
Naka has meanwhile been working on personal projects, including amobile game he made by himself.
