Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator Yuji Naka returns to the spotlight with an update for an obscure eight-year-old mobile game

While Naka has racked up credits on loads of iconic games over time, from the original Sonic the Hedgehog to Phantasy Star, the game he's turned his attention to once more is Pirates of Coin.

Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator and former Sonic Team president Yuji Naka has released an update for an obscure eight-year-old mobile game, in news that feels a bit like a return to normality after some of the developer's more recent headlines.

While Naka has racked up credits on loads of iconic games over time, from the original Sonic the Hedgehog to Phantasy Star, as spotted by Time Extension, the game he's turned his attention to once more is Pirates of Coin, which was developed by PROPE – the studio he founded in 2006 after leaving Sega. You'd be forgiven for not recognizing it – it's a mobile, pirate-themed coin-pusher game available on iOS and Android, which sees the coins you earn transform into pirates who'll then send themselves flying at incoming enemies.

"After eight years, I have updated our PROPE application Pirates of Coin," Naka writes on Twitter. "It was built in Unity 5 at the time, but I had to update a lot of things while there are a lot of [Unities] between now and Unity 6. I changed Javascript to C# and supported a lot of Obsoletes."

After 8years,I have updated our PROPE application “Pirates of Coin”.

It was built in Unity5 at the time, but I had to update a lot of things while there are a lot of Unitys between now and Unity6.

I changed Javascript to C# and supported a lot of Obsoletes.

The question remains though, why now after all this time? I mean, it's certainly a positive thing to support the game for anyone still interested all these years later, but you have to wonder what inspired him to come back to it in the first place.

It feels like it's been a while since Naka made headlines for something as simple as updating a game. After departing Sega and founding Prope, he joined Square Enix in 2018 where he was involved with the underwhelming 3D platformer Balan Wonderworld. He left in 2021, but a year later, was arrested over allegations of insider trading. It was then reported in 2023 that Naka was given a two-and-a-half year prison sentence – suspended for four years – alongside some hefty fines.