Last year, PlayStation/ Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO, Jim Ryan announced that he will be stepping down from his position in Q1 2024. According to his statement, his retirement was confirmed to occur soon and the Japanese corporation also mentioned that COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki will support Ryan with the transition.
Fast forward to May 2024, PlayStation has hired two new CEOs to replace Jim Ryan as he steps down from his position, effective from June 1, 2024. Sony has announced that Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino will be replacing Jim Ryan, and will be working as joint CEOs of the PlayStation from next month onwards.
Also read: PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan To Step Down Next Year; CFO Hiroki Totoki To Be Interim CEO
Ex-Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) President Jim Ryan To Be Replaced With Joint CEOs Next Month
During the transition of Jim Ryan stepping down, CFO Hiroki Totoki has been filling the position of interim CEO for the SIE. As the official announcement for Herman Hulst and Hideaki Nishino was made today, Totoki also had a few words to add for fans. In a recent interview clip which was shared by The Verge's Tom Warren, Totoki said that first-party title generation is a great potential driver for the company. He also stated that the company wanted to popularize consoles in the past; however, there is a 'different synergy to it.' He added:
"In the past, as you all know, we wanted to popularize console. The main purpose for the first-party titles was to make the hardware or the console popular."
He added more to his statement by saying that if developers have strong 'first-party' content not only with PlayStation but with other platforms, like PC, the titles can be grown with multi-platforms and help generate more operating profit for the company.
This statement from the interim CEO, Hiroki Totoki discusses different boundaries for the company, as the new CEOs will also be following this rule. Herman Hulst is moving from his role of head of PlayStation Studios to the CEO and will be responsible for the Studio Business Group, which will look over all PlayStation first-party games, alongside IPs in TV shows and films. For Hideaki Nishino, he will be moving to the CEO of the Platform Business Group from being the SVP of Platform Experiences. His position is responsible for all PlayStation console hardware, accessories, technology, the PlayStation Network, and third-party relations for major publishers and indie studios. Both CEOs will be reporting directly to the SIE chairman, Hiroki Totoki.