President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Jim Ryan is reportedly stepping down from his role at PlayStation.
Is Jim Ryan stepping down from PlayStation?
Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier first broke the news in a tweet, stating “PlayStation boss Jim Ryan is stepping down, two sources tell Bloomberg News.”
UPDATE: Further information comes from a Sony press release (via Wario64) that states Ryan will retire in March 2024 with Hiroki Totoki set to serve as Chairman of SIE starting in October 2023. As of April 1, 2024, Totoki will be made interim CEO of SIE alongside his position as President, COO, and CFO at Sony Group.
“After 30 years, I have made the decision to retire from SIE in March 2024,” Ryan said in a statement. “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.”
You can see Schreier’s initial tweet below:
Ryan first joined Sony in 1994. He then served as the President of SIE’s European branch for eight years from 2011 to 2019. He then was promoted to CEO and chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2019. He replaced John Kodera, who served in the role from October 3, 2017 to April 1, 2019.
Ryan had become somewhat controversial within the PlayStation fanbase due to his remarks on legacy titles. “The PS1 and the PS2 games, they looked ancient, like why would anybody play this?” Ryan told Time Magazine in 2017. However, he would later clarify that he didn’t make his point well and didn’t want to be disrespectful to PlayStation’s heritage. “I guess my big learning from all of this is that when Kazunori Yamauchi unveils the next Gran Turismo side by side with its history, that I will keep my mouth shut,” Ryan told Axios in 2021.
