It’s a fact, Balan Wonderworld bid and its creator, Yuji Naka, even ended up taking Square Enix to court.
Announced with fanfare and sold as a fantastic action/platformer created by one of Sonic’s daddies, Balan Wonderworld actually flopped, but according to Yuji Naka, it’s Square Enix’s fault.
Pressed by the schedule, then fired from the project, Yuji Naka has a lot!
Former Balan Wonderworld director Yuji Naka went wild on Twitter as he gave a behind-the-scenes look at his late colorful platformer. If we knew that the man had left Square Enix shortly after the sinking, what we did not know, however, was that he had squarely dragged the firm to justice. A matter settled according to him. That said, Yuji Naka still swung on what happened during the development of Balan Wonderland. He tells us, for example, that Square Enix had asked for the software to be released quickly and had even brushed aside the warnings of several people who felt that the game was not ready. The publisher even ended up doing fire Naka from the project sometime before the release of Balan Wonderworld.
About six months before launch, an order was issued to remove me from my position as director of Balan Wonderworld. So I filed a lawsuit against Square Enix. I want to tell you that the court case is now over
According to him, Balan Wonderworld should never have seen the light of day in such a state. The development was chaotic, especially the composition of the soundtrack which was repeated several times, but the publisher absolutely wanted to maintain its schedule.
I don’t think it’s a good idea to release an original game and only put rearranged sheet music in it. I think a game is something you have to work hard to make it great from start to finish, and for fans to enjoy as soon as they buy it. I find it unacceptable to withdraw the director of the project without even consulting him and not to allow him to participate in the development under the pretext that time is running out.
Square Enix doesn’t care about its players, says Yuji Naka
Finally, Yuji Naka deeply regrets the attitude of Square Enix, and even of the Arzest studioalso on development, who did not give him the extra time he wanted to polish his baby. For him, Square Enix and Arzest respect neither their games nor their fans.
I think it’s only natural to ask for changes to improve the game, and if that’s not possible, just discuss it. It’s really a shame to see a work that I created from the beginning end up like this. It’s a real shame to have made public my unfinished work [Balan Wonderworld]. I wanted to present it to the world as an action game in an appropriate form, taking into account several elements. I think Square Enix and Arzest are companies that don’t care about games or gamers.
So big atmosphere. However, it will be recalled that this is only one point of view of the case and that it is good to keep a certain distance on the subject, even if the testimony proves once again that the video game industry can be a particularly trying environment.
