In surprising news, PlayStation has abandoned its dual-CEO strategy less than a year since implementing it, announcing that Hideaki Nishino will remain as the sole CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, the business subsidiary of Sony containing PlayStation.
Sony announced Nishino and Herman Hulst as co-CEOs of PlayStation in June 2024 as replacements for Jim Ryan.
As for Hermen Hulst, he’ll remain in charge of PlayStation’s first-party but will now report directly to Nishino.
“I am truly honored to take the helm at Sony Interactive Entertainment,” Nishino said in a press release. “Technology and creativity are two of our biggest strengths as we continue to focus on developing experiences that deliver entertainment for everyone. We will continue to grow the PlayStation community in new ways, such as [intellectual property] expansion, while also delivering the best in technology innovation.
2024 is nearly over, opening the door to what is promising to be a strong year for games, even as the industry continues to face problems. So let’s take a moment to pick out some of the best games from the past year.
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“I want to thank Hermen for his expertise and leadership as he continues his role as CEO, Studio Business Group. I am deeply grateful for the PlayStation community and their continued support and I am very excited for what the future holds.”
Speculation about why Hulst has been removed or stepped down is, of course, running rampant. Is it possible it is related to the failure of Concord, of which Hulst was reportedly a major champion? While it’s possible, it also seems unlikely as Hulst will remain in charge of first-party titles at PlayStation, and if Sony was genuinely that angry at the games failure it seems odd to keep the man responsible for it leading the first-party division.
It seems more likely at this point that Sony felt the dual-CEO strategy simply wasn’t working, or that Hulst himself didn’t find himself enjoying or fitting into the role. Running the first-party division is probably a full-time job on its own, after all.
When the pair took over the co-CEO roles, they attempted to explain that “Hermen runs his thing, I run my thing, and then we get together to talk about how to grow the business. Growing the business for success has a conflict as well: how we impact each other or how we want to sacrifice or not. It’s a balance. It’s an opportunity and a risk.”
This isn’t the only change over at Sony, as Hiroki Totoki has been appointed the new CEO of the company. You might remember that Totoki briefly held the role of temporary CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment between Jim Ryan leaving and the dual-CEOs taking. Looking back, it seems like Totoki has been groomed for this role, as being put in charge of SIE was likely done as a way of letting him get to grips with the company’s most valuable asset; it’s gaming division.
The outgoing CEO of Sony Kenichiro Yoshida will stay on as chairman of the board.
How do you guys feel about this shake-up? After all, while PlayStation is still doing financially very well and is in a strong position, a lot of the company’s decisions lately have been questionable and garnered a lot of criticism, while its live-service ambitions have crashed and burned.