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PlayStation boss Jim Ryan is stepping down after 30 years
Jim Ryan, Chairman and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, is retiring after 30 years of service. The PlayStation boss will officially leave office in March 2024 with a successor who has not yet been named.
Jim Ryan has been with PlayStation since 1994, when he joined Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe. Since then, he has become the figurehead of the PlayStation brand, similar to Phil Spencer’s role at Xbox. Its most recent success came with the launch of the PlayStation 5, which has already surpassed the 40 million unit milestone. Today, Sony announced that Ryan plans to step down from the role.
Plans are already in place to fill this gap, according to a press release from Sony. Hiroki Totoki, COO and CFO of Sony Group, will assume Ryan’s role as interim CEO while continuing his role within Sony Group. During this time, he will work with Kenichiro Yoshida, Chairman and CEO of Sony Group Corporation, to “define the next chapter of PlayStation’s future.” This will include naming an official successor to Ryan.
Ryan explained the surprise move in a press release, citing a logistical reason for his departure: the difficulty of balancing a life in Europe with a job in North America.
“After 30 years, I have made the decision to retire from SIE in March 2024,” Ryan wrote. “I appreciated the opportunity to have a job I love at a very special company, working with great people and incredible partners. But I’m having more and more difficulty reconciling living in Europe and working in North America. I will leave having had the privilege of working on products that have touched millions of lives around the world; PlayStation will always be a part of my life and I feel more optimistic than ever about the future of SIE. I want to thank Yoshida-san for putting so much trust in me and being an incredibly sensitive and supportive leader.
Totoki will enter an era of change for PlayStation, as Sony currently prepares a more aggressive dive into live service with titles like Marathon And FairGame$. It remains to be seen whether the new management will have an impact on the company’s future plans.
