Yuji Naka, the man best known for creating Sonic the Hedgehog, has made an announcement on his Twitter page about a new career move. According to Naka, he now works for Square Enix.

According to Yuji Naka's post, he joined Square Enix as a full-time employee at some point in January. His exact position within the company has yet to be revealed, though Naka has stated that he is still working on developing games.

Yuji Naka's name is one that has long been associated with Sega. He got his start with the company as a programmer, with one of his earliest games being the original Phantasy Star for the Master System. Naka would go on to program the first Sonic the Hedgehog title for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, which was the game that helped put Sega on an even footing with Nintendo and inspired a rivalry that persisted throughout the 16-bit era of gaming.

Yuji Naka would continue working as a programmer and producer on various Sonic the Hedgehog titles, as well as working on games like Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Nights into Dreams, and Phantasy Star Online.

Yuji Naka continued to work for Sega until 2006 when he decided to leave and form a new studio called Prope. This was partly due to his desire to work on games other than ones involving Sonic the Hedgehog. It seems like he might have needed Sonic's help after all, as most of the games released by Prope were underwhelming, such as Digimon All-Star Rumble and Rodea the Sky Soldier.

The fact that Yuji Naka has moved to Square Enix has also placed the future of Prope in question. There has been no word of any shifts among the higher-ups at Prope to fill the void left by Yuji Naka. With Yuji Naka now working for Square, it's possible that Prope is done as a game studio.

One can only wonder what kind of plans Square Enix have for Yuji Naka. Was he hired for his numerous years in the industry, or do they need his skills for some upcoming platformer of JRPG, which is where the bulk of his experiences lies?