Update: We now have a more accurate translation of Yuji Naka’s tweets, courtesy of Twitter user Cheesemeister. The tone of the message is largely the same as that translated by machine, but it is much clearer here that Yuji Naka believes that the poor reception at Balan Wonderworld was the result of behind the scenes. We have incorporated the beginning of the translated thread and also included the full translation of Naka’s tweets below. “I was fired from the position of director of Balan Wonderworld about half a year before the release, so I filed a lawsuit against Square Enix. “Now that the procedures are over and I am no longer bound by the rules of the company, I would like to speak openly.” #BalanWonderworld Cheesemeister 😷💉💉💉 (@ Cheesemeister3k) 28 April 2022 I stepped down as director of Balan Wonderworld about half a year before it was released, so I filed a lawsuit against Square Enix. Now that the procedures are over and I am no longer bound by the company rules, I would like to speak. I think it’s wrong for Square Enix not to appreciate games and game lovers. According to court documents, I was removed by the director of Balan Wonderworld for 2 reasons. Made by the producer, the marketing manager, the sound engineer, the CEO and HR. First, when the orchestrated music video of the game was released by a YouTuber in a promotion instead of the original part of the game, turning the composer into a ghost writer, I insisted on releasing the original part and this caused problems. Second, according to court documents, [Naoto] said Ohshima to the producer [Noriyoshi] Fujimoto that the relationship with Arzest was ruined due to the comments I made wanting to improve the game while Arzest submits the game without correcting bugs. He also wrote in an e-mail from Ohshima to Fujimoto: “I just told the staff about the delay in the show. When I told them, “This was prot. Fujimoto’s decision. Let’s do the best we can for him “, the staff applauded and cheered. This was unexpected and I was moved … The staff has been down lately, but their spirit has been revived. Thank you very much. “All of us in the staff will work hard.” So the program did not depend on me, but on the producer, however the tight schedule was the work of the producer. Something had gone out. We were releasing an original game, but it was definitely wrong to release only one regulated track. I believe that the music of the game that everyone can buzz is the original pieces. I believe that every effort should be made to make the games as good as possible until the end, so that the friends of the game can enjoy what they are buying. It was not right, without discussion, to remove and completely disconnect from the play a director who said so. Retweet, like, etc. on SNS and others like that were banned, so I don’t think Square Enix appreciates the game’s fans. There were a lot of comments and great illustrations for Balan Wonderworld and I’m really sorry I could not react to them. Personally, I’m really sorry for the customers who bought the Balan Wonderworld unfinished. From this point on, I will be able to react to posts that tag me or that only address me on SNS and more. I believe that when making toys, asking for corrections to make something good should be a given, and if that is not possible, it should be discussed, but it seems that they can not. I do not think they appreciate the toys. For Sonic the Hedgehog, 2 weeks before finalization, the specifications have changed so that if you have even 1 ring, you will not die. This well-known rule was the result of improving the game to the end, and as a result people all over the world enjoyed it. Improving a game to the end is the essence of being a game developer, and if that’s not possible, something is wrong. I asked my lawyer to negotiate that I could comment until the end of the production, but their refusal led me to file a lawsuit. I think the resulting Balan Wonderworld and the critical reception it received have a lot to do with what happened. I’m really disappointed that a product I worked on from the beginning came out like this. Thanks Cheesemeister for this translation. Yuji Naka compares his dismissal to the time he worked at Sonic the Hedgehog, where he worked until the last minute to hire a much-needed engineer for the series. He seems to believe that if he were allowed to stay on the ship, he could give the same care and attention to Balan Wonderworld. Last summer, Naka announced that he left Square Enix at the end of April 2021 and had plans to retire, although the famous game developer entered the mobile game market. His departure from Square Enix is ​​probably different from his departure as director of Balan Wonderworld. Original article: Balan Wonderworld was a big disappointment for many. Fans of Yuji Naka (director of the platforming flop) and his work on various Sonic titles, Nights into Dreams, and Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg took a look at the platformer published by Square Enix in their announcement and were fascinated by the music. and visually. It was evocative of a Dreamcast platformer and we longed for it. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned and Balan Wonderworld was named the worst Switch game of 2021, but it sounds like a lot more was happening behind the scenes. Today, on Twitter, Yuji Naka revealed that he was actually removed from the position of game director six months before its release. Many still credit a lot of Balan Wonderworld to Naka, so that’s pretty shocking, but original developer Sonic the Hedgehog didn’t just leave it at that. Naka has filed a lawsuit against Square Enix, which is now over, but in a Twitter post, he reveals how unhappy he was with many of the decisions made by both Square Enix and co-developer Arzest. Naka knew the game was incomplete and needed more work, and he wanted to help with that, but his removal from Square Enix meant he could not. Right now, we only have one automatic translation via Nibel and DeepL of what Yuji Naka has to say, but even so, it is clear that his thoughts are caustic on the subject: Even if read with automatic translation, it is a very caustic thread that ends with the following “I think Square Enix and Arzest are companies that are not interested in games and game lovers.” Until a better translation comes out, here is a DeepL translation of the thread: pic.twitter.com/mlRet1gHwC – Nibel (ibNibellion) 28 April 2022 Naka apologizes deeply to the fans who took the game in all its thread, while they were particularly focused on Square Enix: I think Square Enix does not take good care of the fans of its games as retweet, like etc. was also banned on social networking sites. There were a lot of comments and very nice illustrations by Balan Wonderworld, and I’m very sorry I could not do anything about it. It is rumored that Yuji Naka wanted to give his fans what they wanted and because he was fired by a manager, he could not do anything about it. His final statement perfectly sums up this feeling: It is a real pity for me that you released your unfinished work “Balan Wonderworld” to the world. I wanted to release it to the world as an action game in the right form taking into account various things. I think Square Enix and Arzest are companies that are not interested in games and game lovers. Square Enix or Arzest have not responded to these allegations as of this writing, but given Balan Wonderworld’s poor reception – including our 3 in 10 review – it is easy to see Naka’s frustration. It seems that now may be the right time to re-read our own retrospective defense, given this context: If we find out more about the situation, we will let you know.