The first president of PlayStation announced his retirement and departure as CEO and chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Jim Ryan worked with Sony starting in 1994, the same year the first PlayStation console was released and he was the first president of PlayStation.
Jim Ryan, also known as the CEO and president of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), has just announced his retirement after nearly 30 years with the PlayStation brand. One of his main achievements in his work over the past decade is leading the PS5 system to sell more than 40 million units, far surpassing the company’s rival Xbox.
For gamers who don’t know, Jim Ryan’s story with Sony began in 1994, the same year the first PlayStation console was released. Ryan initially worked at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and has been involved in several areas of the company since then. In 2019, Ryan became president and CEO of SIE, essentially becoming the man in charge of the PlayStation brand.
Now Jim Ryan will step down as president of PlayStation and will retire from the company in March 2024. According to the latest announcement first reported by Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier, the reason for his retirement is because Ryan found it difficult to live in Europe and work in North America. This first PlayStation president will be succeeded by Hiroki Totoki, who currently holds the positions of current president, COO and CFO of Sony Corporation. Totoki will take over as SIE president in October to support the transition and then become interim CEO of SIE in April 2024. It is currently unclear whether Totoki will continue to serve as SIE CEO. The CEO will then be replaced by someone else.
Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier reported the resignation of PlayStation president Jim Ryan on Twitter.
During Jim Ryan’s five years as senior president of PlayStation, he was partly responsible for the success of the PS5. Also during his tenure, first-party games like Horizon Forbidden West and God of War Ragnarok were released and became major blockbusters. Of course, he also had times when he shared his controversial comments. One of these instances was when he was accused by Sony employees of not taking a strong stance on abortion rights, or when Jim Ryan criticized Microsoft, calling Xbox Game Pass “destructive” to the industry.
President Jim Ryan may be leaving PlayStation, but this doesn’t mean the company will stop developing new and exciting products for gamers. Not only are exciting games like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 coming out, but Sony is also researching many new technologies like touch screens for the PS5 controller. So we can still expect Sony Interactive Entertainment to bring interesting projects for 2024 and the future beyond.
