2023-09-28 06:29:10
Tokyo (AFP) – The CEO of Sony’s video games division, Jim Ryan, will leave his position at the end of March following a long career within the Japanese group, where he oversaw the launch of the latest console, the PlayStation 5.
Published on: 09/28/2023 – 08:29
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“Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) President and CEO Jim Ryan has made the decision to retire in March 2024 following nearly 30 years with the PlayStation business,” Sony announced in a statement released Thursday.
“I relished the opportunity to have a job that I love in a very special company, to work with great people and incredible partners. But I found it increasingly difficult to balance my life in Europe and my work in North America,” Mr. Ryan was quoted as saying in the press release.
The 63-year-old Briton joined the European branch of SIE in 1994, before occupying various positions within this division, notably playing a role in the launches of PlayStation consoles since the PS2.
He had been CEO of SIE since 2019 and in this capacity oversaw the launch the following year of the PS5, whose production initially suffered from the shortage of semiconductors in the midst of the pandemic. Its sales then took off, totaling 40 million units at the end of July.
The announcement of Mr. Ryan’s departure “is quite surprising”, reacted analyst Serkan Toto of the Tokyo firm Kantan Games. “I don’t think anyone expected him to leave so quickly” because “his career as CEO is quite short,” he said, interviewed by AFP.
Crucial choice of a successor
To prepare for the transition, Sony’s operational and financial director, Hiroki Totoki, will take charge of SIE next month as president, then take on the role of interim CEO of the division in April 2024, Sony said.
For Serkan Toto, the choice of Mr. Ryan’s successor will be crucial because even if “the PS5 is doing very well at the moment, the whole gaming industry is moving very, very quickly”.
The PlayStation 5 at Sony headquarters in Tokyo, May 9, 2022 © Philip FONG / AFP/Archives
Sony announced last year its intention to accelerate the release of games on smartphones and PCs, and to increase its presence in online games known as “live services”, which seek to stimulate long-term interest among players by regularly being enriched with additional monetized content.
In competition with the American Microsoft on the video game market, Sony Interactive has embraced in recent years under the command of Jim Ryan an intense strategy of studio buyouts, notably absorbing in 2022 the American Bungie (creator of “Halo” and “Destiny”) for $3.6 billion.
Sony also strengthened its stake in Epic Games (“Fortnite”) and took a share of the capital of the Japanese FromSoftware (“Elden Ring”, “Dark Souls”).
Jim Ryan was also on the front lines of Sony’s fight to prevent Microsoft’s takeover of Activision Blizzard, the publisher of “Call of Duty”, “Diablo” and “Candy Crush”, for a whopping $69 billion. .
This acquisition, in the crosshairs of various competition authorities since its announcement in early 2022, is now on the verge of completion following a preliminary green light from the British authority.
“There is currently change within the gaming industry, particularly for Sony” with the success of this takeover by Microsoft, commented Mr. Toto, adding: “I think it would have been better for PlayStation if Ryan will stay at the helm for another one to three years.”
© 2023 AFP
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