E3 06: Yuji Naka starts own studio

Creative mind behind Sonic the Hedgehog, Phantasy Star set to leave the publisher and set up his own studio as part of Game Creator Independence Program.

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Longtime Sega developer Yuji Naka is leaving the company, the publisher announced today. On June 1, he will step down as Sega's creative officer for research and development and become the CEO and president of a new development company, Prope, Ltd.

The move is part of Sega's Game Creator Independence Program, which seeks "to promote entrepreneurial business spin-offs with its internal development talent." Sega "will make a 10 percent investment in Prope, Ltd." and will have exclusive global publishing rights to all its games.

"We named our company Prope in the hopes of bringing game entertainment much closer to users, establishing closer ties between users and us, and creating near future entertainment," Naka said of the move. "Prope" is a Latin preposition which means "nearby," "beside," or "near."

Working with external developers is something Sega has been doing more frequently of late. The company has acquired external developers such as The Creative Assembly, Secret Level, and Sports Interactive in the last two years and has more recently been working with studios such as Monolith and Pseudo Interactive to publish Condemned and Full Auto, respectively.

49 Comments

  • jakeboudville

    Posted Aug 24, 2006 11:28 pm PT

    Interesting...

  • Link_of_winds

    Posted Aug 19, 2006 2:07 pm PT

    Does this mean no more sonic?

  • LinkErdrich

    Posted May 9, 2006 7:40 am PT

    This is huge!

  • rbarahona

    Posted May 9, 2006 7:06 am PT

    It is a shame for Sega to let their most important creative mind go. However I hope that this gives Yuji Naka more freedom and the opportunity to make some great games. Congratulations and good luck to Mr. Naka.

  • dandymarsh

    Posted May 8, 2006 7:33 pm PT

    So was the Yuji Naka working at a Japanese restaurant a joke or not?!

  • DFTricks

    Posted May 8, 2006 7:21 pm PT

    Oh Well! I wish he come to Nintendo! cuz they have to money to make his idea works

  • CelicaCrazed

    Posted May 8, 2006 3:52 pm PT

    Didn't Famitsu say that Nights was going to be released on the Wii, but not made by Sega. This all but confirms it IMO.

  • comthitnuong

    Posted May 8, 2006 3:32 pm PT

    aw shea

  • blackIceJoe

    Posted May 8, 2006 3:22 pm PT

    This is pretty a shock but at the same time not.
    This could make him some nice money hope the games He will make now will be a lot of fun.

  • mpeg3s

    Posted May 8, 2006 3:16 pm PT

    Sega's History!

  • EvanO_O

    Posted May 8, 2006 3:11 pm PT

    meh...

  • SorcererLance

    Posted May 8, 2006 3:00 pm PT

    well, if Hideo Kojima managed to do the same and still do well with his MGS games, I don't think it'll hinder Sega in any way...at least not much

  • Lee2000

    Posted May 8, 2006 2:57 pm PT

    Good

  • troakun

    Posted May 8, 2006 2:47 pm PT

    "the real creator (can't remember the name) is still there and that's all that matters!!!"

    Actualy, I heard he left a long time ago out of spite for Naka. Shame. Anyway I like the fact that Yuji left. He was no good for Sonic, he needed to branch out and develop new IPs, he has talent when he isn't stealing other people's ideas. If I'm dissapointed with anything it's that this kinda impales any chance of getting a NiGHTS sequal.

  • jimbo102671

    Posted May 8, 2006 2:47 pm PT

    This was rumored for a while, so it's not exactly news.

    Nintendo is getting some of its best games from development houses such as Camelot and Intelligent Systems, so here's hoping Prope can keep up the quality games for Sega.

  • Sonic43090

    Posted May 8, 2006 2:31 pm PT

    I guess Naka won't be doing Sonic anymore...

  • DevJin

    Posted May 8, 2006 2:31 pm PT

    He should start making a PS3's games if he want to sell BIG!!

  • FuguNabe

    Posted May 8, 2006 2:20 pm PT

    Interesting... Probably to do with directions. Naka probably wants to do something that Sega finds a risk but by having own studio he's got more creative control and Sega putting in 10% to support for good will and incase they can still capitalise on possible Naka future success. It's quite a big loss to Sega though. Hope they don't lose Suzuki as well.

  • BlankTH

    Posted May 8, 2006 2:19 pm PT

    Mr. Hedgehog! Hope you all seen the drawings ^^.

  • Ace91

    Posted May 8, 2006 2:16 pm PT

    yup, Yuji only took credit for Sonic, he just lead a team which created him and he takes all the credits, the real creator (can't remember the name) is still there and that's all that matters!!!

  • Lost2017

    Posted May 8, 2006 2:16 pm PT

    I'm glad yuki naka left sega, due to the bad reception with sonic (shadow Cough! Cough!) he needed some freedom to make new I.P's and not be stuck with some old franchise, or phantasy star. Also sega can rethink their strategy of doing games in-house and search out talented developers like
    creative assembly,or monolith thata way they'll have more room as a publisher.

  • BlankTH

    Posted May 8, 2006 2:12 pm PT

    Trust me on this one, Yuji leaving Sega is NOT a bad thing. He ruined every Sonic game since 1991! Ever wonder why Sonic CD turned out so well? It's cuz Yuji (the bastard) wasn't involved! This is a definate upside for Sonic, and perfect timing for him not to ruin the new PS3 and XBox 360 game!

  • kingofps3

    Posted May 8, 2006 1:44 pm PT

    good luck in your future games. peace

  • oddworld7

    Posted May 8, 2006 1:32 pm PT

    um, Sega is still involve. They will publish the games created by Prope. READ PEOPLE!

  • vaejas

    Posted May 8, 2006 1:14 pm PT

    Big Propes to Sega. Hopefully this is a shot in the arm.

  • tremo01

    Posted May 8, 2006 1:00 pm PT

    Awesome! Big news are allready flowing in!

  • troakun

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:51 pm PT

    "Well... I can safely say that Sonic is now completely f*cked..."

    Naka was just the programer for the original Sonic game and took credit for everything else. His best accomplishments are outside of the Sonic series (NiGHTS, Samba de Amigo, Phantasy Star, etc.). The Sonic series should get along just fine with out him as it has for years.

  • RazMasters

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:47 pm PT

    Or, not really, considering that Yuji Naka left SEGA several times already... but he went back each time. Is he gone for good, now? I think so, even though they'll keep good business ties.

  • RazMasters

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:47 pm PT

    Wow.

    Crazy.

  • Kcube

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:27 pm PT

    I like Yuji,But the direction Sonic has taken hasnt been for the best in 3D.
    But Yuji has delivered in the past and Im sure he will continue to do so.Its cool that he is starting his own thing it could equal more creative freedom.

  • lageasy311

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:27 pm PT

    the first few people who posted must not be that smart, they did'nt lose crap. They said "it's part of segas program" to let developers do there own creative ideas etc etc. They never lost him, they own 10 percent of the company.

  • meischris39

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:27 pm PT

    Firstly this is very old i posted it in my blog in march
    secondly he hasnt broken away from sega hes still making all their games

  • revamparts

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:26 pm PT

    Let's hope he makes something that's Sonic but better, I know he can.

  • neoand12

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:22 pm PT

    yes I alll was new he could do better!

  • Megadanxzero

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:19 pm PT

    Well... I can safely say that Sonic is now completely f*cked...

  • skyvader

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:15 pm PT

    Sega didn't lose him. What they gained is the creative freedom of a new developer. instead of sega telling Yuji what they want, he can make what he wants and Sega gets the exclusive rights to produce and publish the games for the various markets. Pretty smart. I wonder if Yu Suzuki will be doing the same?

  • Sagacious_Tien

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:15 pm PT

    Not a joke?
    More creative freedom to him.

  • akilshohen

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:12 pm PT

    they bogus for that picture

  • Mit_Man

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:12 pm PT

    This is nothing bad for Sega, as they made and encouraged the program for internal developers to make their own studios and receive publishing support from Sega, but it does look like Yuji Naka may not be involved with future titles like Sonic and Phantasy Star games. Although, I'm not sure, because as far as I was concerned he'd been interviewed and in the development process for Phantasy Star Universe. But, I'm thinking Sega franchise titles will still be developed in house rather than to other developers and published by Sega. Anyways, it's cool, but I hope he still works on Sonic and Phantasy Star :\

  • lostinseganet

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:11 pm PT

    COMMMONN NAKA! you know ya wanna make teh Dreamcast 2. Do it doo it do it.

  • elessartelrunya

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:09 pm PT

    Seems like a control issue...

  • bigbadbobbyb

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:07 pm PT

    I'm confused.... sega is still going to publish all his titles... so what's the difference?

  • MegamanX400

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:06 pm PT

    I don't think they really lost him, since he started a company that Sega is invested in and has exclusive rights to. Sort of like a second party type thing that Nintendo had in the 64 days.

  • Nintendo_Boy1

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:05 pm PT

    umm he just made his own studio sega will still be involved with him....

  • Fallout_red

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:02 pm PT

    Great team.

  • woohooforme

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:02 pm PT

    Aww.

  • SnowFarmer

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:01 pm PT

    Humm... I wonder what he is up to? Did he just want more freedom?

  • DarthTraxis

    Posted May 8, 2006 12:00 pm PT

    maybe this will be a wake-up call to sega

    smarten up and dont make a full auto sequel

  • Banana_Kid

    Posted May 8, 2006 11:54 am PT

    Poor Sega. They lost their biggest developer.

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