The video game industry has just been shaken as Sony has officially revealed that Jim Ryan, president of Sony Interactive Entertainment and head of PlayStation, will resign soon, a surprising decision that is likely motivated by several reasons.
It's official! Jim Ryan will leave PlayStation
Moments ago, Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier reported that two close sources revealed Jim Ryan will resign as head of PlayStation. The news quickly spread through the gaming world, and minutes later, Sony issued an official statement announcing that Jim Ryan will step down as the head of PlayStation on the last day of March 2024.
Regarding this, Sony's statement states: "Sony Group Corporation and Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) today announced that the President and CEO of SIE, Jim Ryan, has decided to retire in March 2024 after almost 30 years with the PlayStation business. To support Mr. Ryan in his transition, Sony Group Corporation's President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Financial Officer, Hiroki Totoki, will assume the position of President of SIE from October 2023. Starting April 1, 2024, Mr. Totoki will be appointed interim CEO of SIE while continuing his current role at Sony Group Corporation."
Jim Ryan thanks the PlayStation community as he announces his plans to retire from Sony Interactive Entertainment in March 2024: https://t.co/FFarEpedBh
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) September 27, 2023
Why is Jim Ryan resigning from PlayStation?
According to Jim Ryan, the reason for his resignation is that he no longer has the capacity to perform his job since PlayStation's strategy is global, requiring its top executives to move across different parts of the world: "After 30 years, I made the decision to retire from SIE in March 2024. I have enjoyed the opportunity to have a job I love in a very special company, working with great people and incredible partners. But it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to balance 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 worldwide; 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 placing so much trust in me and being an incredibly sensitive and supportive leader."
In this way, Jim Ryan will leave PlayStation having led the launch of PS5, the transition to this new console, the response to the scarcity period due to the pandemic, but also with controversies such as changes to PlayStation Plus, price increases in the service, a decrease in some important indicators like the number of subscribers, some anti-consumer intentions regarding the transition period between consoles, and perhaps the most significant one, the scandal over Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard King, something he fought against but could not prevent.
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