UPDATE: Sony Interactive Entertainment has confirmed that Jim Ryan will step down as president of Sony Interactive Entertainment and retire in March 2024.In a press release published on SIE’s website, the company confirms what was first reported by Jason Schreier at Bloomberg, that Ryan will indeed be leaving the company, closing out his career with a nearly 30 year span at SIE.“Sony Group Corporation and Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) today announced that SIE President and CEO Jim Ryan has made the decision to retire in March 2024 after almost thirty years with the PlayStation business.” SIE said in its statement.It’ll be the president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Sony Group Corporation Hiroki Totoki stepping in to help with this transition. Totoki will be named chairman of SIE at the beginning of October, and then on April 1, 2024, Totoki will be made interim chief executive officer of SIE, alongside his role at Sony Group Corporation.On his retirement, Ryan says “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.”Sony Group Chairman and chief executive officer Kenichiro Yoshida called Ryan “an inspirational leader,” and particularly called out Ryan’s ability to weather the recent pandemic, and launching the PS5 to such success through trying times.On finding a new, permanent successor, Yoshida says that “we have discussed intensively and have determined the new management structure.”Totoki also had parting words for Ryan, who expressed his “heartfelt gratitude” to Ryan for his contributions to the company across his long career, though for his own part says “I am also looking forward to creating the exciting future of PlayStation and the game industry together with everyone at SIE and its business partners.”Original Story:Jim Ryan has been the president of Sony Interactive Entertainment since 2019 officially, and was deputy president for a year before that, the final step of his rise through the ranks of the company that began in 1994.On Wednesday, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reported that two sources told Schreier the Jim Ryan would be stepping down from his role. If this is the case, this could mean a massive shift in PlayStation moving forward.https://x.com/jasonschreier/status/1707149244996505858?s=20In the sense that whoever would fill the role would have the power to make massive changes to how the company runs, though that’s all going to go down to the person that does take the spot.Schreier’s historically not one to fire from the hip in these instances, so it’s likely that these sources are to be believed. Still, nothing’s official until a proper statement from Ryan or PlayStation says as much.Prior to this there had been no signs that Ryan would be taking his leave, if anything it felt more like he was going to be around throughout the PS5 lifespan.Which, may not have been to the fans liking, as Ryan has never been very popular with PlayStation’s community. A bit of a mark against Ryan that never went away, especially when being compared to previous executives within the company who had many fans among the players.Of course no one is at the top forever, and things are always changing so quickly in this industry.Source – [Bloomberg]
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