Sonic creator Yuji Naka is teaching himself how to program his own smartphone game Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Sonic creator Yuji Naka is teaching himself how to program his own smartphone game Following his departure from Square Enix. News by Matt Wales Reporter Updated on 17 Sep 2021 32 comments Yuji Naka, famed creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, has revealed he's teaching himself how to program his own smartphone game following his departure from Square Enix earlier this year. Naka joined Square Enix in 2018, and his first project with the publisher - action-platformer Balan Wonderworld - was announced last summer for release this year. Unfortunately, Balan Wonderland was met with generally unfavourable reviews and disappointing sales when it launched in April, and Naka confirmed his departure from Square Enix in June. At the time, he told Twitter, "I'm 55 years old, so I may retire." It seems Naka has been busy since then, however, and he's celebrated his birthday today by revealing some of what he's been up to since leaving Square. "Thank you for your birthday message," he wrote on Twitter. "Recently I've started studying programs again, and I'm making a simple game for smartphones with Unity." Watch on YouTube Balan Wonderworld Trailer. "It's not a big deal because it's made by one person," he continued, "but programming for making games is fun. I hope you can play the app." Despite Balan Wonderworld's readily apparent flaws, Eurogamer's Martin Robinson still found himself oddly charmed by Naka's decidedly old-school vision when he reviewed it back in April. "Maybe it's just because this is how games used to be, and sometimes it's comforting to slip into a 90s netherworld...when games were often clunky, unexplained, awkward and often downright frustrating," he wrote. "Balan Wonderworld is all those things, an almost too exacting facsimile of a type of second tier 90s platformer that never quite achieved greatness, even if it's fascinating all the same." Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More News Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 4 Atari will hold RollerCoaster Tycoon rights for another decade Ups and downs. 7 Lady Dimitrescu will be a tad smaller in Resident Evil Village's Mercenaries DLC Level the playing field. 1 Overwatch 2 suffers another DDoS attack and character roster bugs Mei Mei. 13 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 4 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Genshin Impact Path of Gleaming Jade dates, login event rewards Including other anniversary rewards and how to claim them. Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store