Yuji Naka has erased former co-worker and Sonic creator Naoto Ohshima from a team photo celebrating the anniversary of Saturn classic NiGHTS Into Dreams.
Naka posted the photo on Twitter for the game’s 26th anniversary, but Ohshima has been edited out of the image.
Why? It all relates to controversy where Naka was removed as director from Balan Wonderworld, a game he worked on with Ohshima.
Happy Birthday NiGHTS!
26 years ago, NiGHTS was announced at this Sega Saturn new software presentation. Bomberman and Enemy Zero were announced together.
I’ve recently been flying FPV in the sky with a drone like NiGHTS. #NiGHTS #NiGHTSIntoDreams pic.twitter.com/ouut5FY9nt— Yuji Naka / 中 裕司 (@nakayuji) July 5, 2022
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Balan Wonderworld was published by Square Enix, but Naka left the project after its disastrous launch in April 2021.
Last year, Naka claimed the game was released in an unfinished state and he was removed from his position as director six months before launch.
Since posting the NiGHTS photo, Naka has followed up with a thread providing further insight.
“How would you feel if you were suddenly removed from a game that you had worked hard on for over two years, and when you went to court, you found out that they had been talking about me behind my back in court documents and that is why I was removed from the game?” he said.