PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan Stepping Down & Retiring in 2024
Sony has just announced some top-level management changes at PlayStation in a press release, and Jim Ryan, the CEO of PlayStation himself is stepping down in March 2024. Jim will actually take retirement next year and Hiroki Totoki will become interim CEO effective April 1st, 2024 while keeping his current role at Sony Group.
Hiroki Totoki currently serves as President, COO, and CFO of Sony Group, and will assume the role of Chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) starting October 2023 when he’ll eventually fully succeed Jim Ryan and start to work more closely with the top brass at Sony, outlining the future of PlayStation.
On the other hand, Jim Ryan joined Sony in 1994 and over the years, he has held various senior positions, including President of SIEE, Head of Global Sales and Marketing, and Deputy President since January 2018, before being appointed as the President and CEO. Ryan is stepping down now primarily because he’s found it increasingly difficult to reconcile living in Europe while working in North America.
In a statement, he expressed his mixed emotions about leaving the company he has been a part of for so long:
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.
Jim Ryan, Current CEO of PlayStation
Kenichiro Yoshida, Chairman and CEO of Sony Group, praised Jim Ryan’s leadership, particularly his role in the successful launch of the PlayStation 5 amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. Yoshida stated, “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.”
This is certainly an unexpected and quite abrupt announcement, especially given that we’re in the middle of the PS5 generation with a mid-cycle refresh imminent anytime now. Ryan has also been an astute fighter in the Microsoft vs. FTC case where he has continuously lobbied for the deal to be called off, to little success.
However, the fact that he’s retiring and not just stepping down points towards this being a mutual and long-coming decision that was just waiting to be announced. After all, 30 years at one company is ought to leave you exhausted.
This news was technically first broken by Jason Schreier at Bloomberg where they received tips from two sources, and about 15 minutes later Sony issued the press release making it official. There might be more to this story so we’ll keep updating the article if anything comes to surface.
