Today Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that the current CEO of PlayStation Jim Ryan is stepping down from his role.
According to the announcement made via an official press release, Ryan will retire from his role in March 2024.
COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki will assume the role of Chairman of PlayStation in October 2024 to help with the transition and will be appointed interim CEO effective April 1, 2024.
In Ryan's farewell message, he explains that, while he loved the job, he has found it increasingly difficult to live in Europe and work in North America at the same time.
After 30 years, I have made the decision to retire from SIE in March 2024. I’ve relished the opportunity to have a job I love in a very special company, working with great people and incredible partners. But 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. I want to thank Yoshida-san for placing so much trust in me and being an incredibly sensitive and supportive leader.
We also got a comment from Sony's CEO Kenichiro Yoshida, who thanked Ryan for his achievements.
Jim Ryan has been an inspirational leader throughout his entire period with us, but never more so than in overseeing the launch of PlayStation 5 in the midst of the global COVID pandemic. That extraordinary achievement made by the entire SIE team has been steadily built on and PlayStation 5 is on track to become SIE’s most successful console yet.
I’m immensely grateful to Jim for all his achievements. Respecting Jim’s decision to finish his long career at Sony leaves me with an important decision regarding his succession given the significance of the Game & Network Services business. We have discussed intensively and have determined the new management structure.
We aim to achieve Sony Group’s further evolution and growth through bringing even greater success to the Game & Network Services Business.
Totoki-san, who will take over the leadership of PlayStation at least temporarily, also expressed his gratitude for Ryan's work, vowing to lead the company to further growth.
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. I will work with Jim and the senior management team closely to ensure our continued success and further growth.
I am also looking forward to creating the exciting future of PlayStation and the game industry together with everyone at SIE and its business partners.
Totoki-san's appointment, albeit described as temporary, is quite interesting, as he already wears two hats as COO and CFO of Sony Corporation, which sparked some questions from press and industry analysts when he took on the COO role in February 2023.
Now, he's going to perform three executive roles at the same time, which is rather rare in a company the size of Sony. He's also the one who announced SIE's challenging goal of shipping 25 million PS5 consoles this fiscal year back in April.
Ryan joined Sony Computer Entertainment Europe in 1994 and became CEO in 2019 replacing John (Tsuyoshi) Kodera, who served in the role for a brief period after Andrew House.
He has not yet announced his plans following his retirement from PlayStation's leadership.
Interestingly, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer also took to X (formerly Twitter) to recognize Ryan's contribution to the industry.
Rim Ryan has been a great contributor to our industry and a fierce leader for PlayStation. I wish him the best in what he does next. Thank you for all you’ve done for the community over the last 30 years, Jim.
