Jim Ryan, the president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, the PlayStation arm of Sony, has decided to retire in March of 2024 after being in the role since 2019.
Sony announced this today in a press release, though it was reported by Jason Schreier on Twitter before being officially confirmed.
Once Jim Ryan retires, Hiroki Totoki will take over as interim CEO beginning on April 1, 2024. Currently, Totoki serves as the Sony Group Corporation President, COO, and CFO. Next month, he will also assume the role of SIE chairman to act as support for Ryan and begin a gradual transition into the role.
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Totoki will assume a close working relationship with Sony Group Corporation Chairman and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida in order to start planning for PlayStation’s future.
This will likely involve extensive planning as it relates to the company’s goals and hopes for the future, but partly this will include deciding who will next take over as CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Sony Says Goodbye to Jim Ryan
Jim Ryan made a statement about his decision to retire from the role after 30 years working at SIE. He cites a major reason for his decision being the difficulties of living in Europe, but working in North America, though he says that he loved his time with the company and is proud of the work he has done.
“…I’ve found it increasingly difficult to reconcile living in Europe and working in North America. I will leave having been privileged to work on products that have touched millions of lives across the world;
PlayStation will always be part of my life, and I feel more optimistic than ever about the future of SIE.”
In addition to this, Jim Ryan’s successor, Hiroki Totoki, had a statement of his own that was included in the press release, wherein he thanked Ryan for his service with the company and discussed the importance of the PlayStation brand to Sony as a whole.
“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Jim Ryan for his outstanding achievements and contributions over his 30-year career at Sony, including the great success of launching the PlayStation 5.
The PlayStation business managed by SIE is an essential part of Sony Group’s entire business portfolio…”
Jim Ryan will be going out on quite a high note it seems, with the PlayStation 5 having sold over 40 million units already.
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Successful tie-ins such as the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us launched under his tenure, and the highly anticipated exclusive Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 launches late next month.
This is just a week before Alan Wake II, which has a marketing tie with PlayStation, despite the first game originally being an Xbox exclusive.
How do you feel about Jim Ryan stepping down? Have you liked the way PlayStation has been handled under his leadership, and are you surprised to see this happen? Let us know in the comments and on our social media feeds!
Source: New Management Structure of Sony Interactive Entertainment
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