A veteran Sony executive with an unrivalled CV spanning practically every major PlayStation first-party hit has allegedly left the company. Rumours of bad news started swirling on God of War creator David Jaffe’s social media this weekend, and he eventually went live with a video explaining the situation earlier today.
According to his sources, both from within PlayStation and outside, Head of Internal Production Connie Booth has left the company. Jaffe had previously described this as “sad, frustrating, [and] potentially super disrespectful news” and had hinted that “the Sony we all came up with is mostly dead”. However, in the video he points out that he doesn’t know whether she was pushed out of the company or simply has called time on her career.
Booth has been with PlayStation since the beginning, and has had a hand in some of its greatest ever franchises, including Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Uncharted, and more. The list honestly goes on and on and on – it’s one of the most eye-watering resumes you’re ever likely to see in the gaming industry. Booth’s efforts were recognised in 2020 when she was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Science’s Hall of Fame for her services to Sony Interactive Entertainment.
But her departure is yet to be confirmed by Sony or Booth, and the details surrounding her exit are murky to say the least: “Here’s what I can tell you: she is no longer at Sony. I don’t have a lot of details, I don’t know if she was fired, or laid off – when I heard the story everyone was telling me she was fired, and then I heard that her team was also walked out of the building. I don’t know if that’s just someone being dramatic or if that actually happened.”
Jaffe reiterated that he’s certain she’s left, and he claims former Guerrilla Games bigwig Angie Smets will take her role. Smets, like her former colleague Hermen Hulst, has been gradually working her way up the PlayStation corporate ladder, and is currently Head of Development Strategy at PlayStation Studios, so would seem like a natural fit.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 47
Jaffe is so irrelevant, he'll do anything for some attention (and put it behind a paywall to get two new subscribers). He probably reads this comment as well.
Oh such drama. Multi million dollar business relies on solely one person.
Christ alive Jaffe.
Don't tell Basil!
Seems like Guerrilla Games have been given a lot of special treatment lately, with all of the management getting higher positions within PlayStation.
Seriously, stop quoting Jaffe. He clearly still has his sources, but at the same time he's also turned into a complete drama queen.
jaffe is a legend , hes the guy behind God of War and Twisted metal .
Personally I don't rate guerrilla games.mid at best. Horizon forbidden west is a very padded game , typical fare open world game. 1 person leaving/getting the sack wont change much
Glad David Jaffe doesn't work for Sony. Sony entitled gamers are too much. Lol
Executives, whether senior or not, join and leave companies every day. Not sure why this is news at all.
Well she hasn't updated her LinkedIn yet!!!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/conniebooth/
Not exactly the devastating earth shattering news we were expecting, that said I would like everyone involved in the live service and PC push to maybe not have a job at PlayStation anymore
Oh no what a shame nevermind.
This site often quotes SIE as a "Japanese Giant" but it really feels like an American giant now.
Hopefully, she just retired after her long and successful career. Best wishes for her.
@TheCollector316 Yeah, much like Jim Ryan, it seems like some senior execs are retiring after a nice long tenure with SIE. Thank you for everything Ms. Booth =]
Eh, the Playstation I loved growing up with already died with the closure of Japan Studios. Best of wishes to Booth.
Jaffe strikes me as someone who stretches the truth in order to gain attention sometimes so I wouldn't take this too seriously. Even if it is true let's be honest, barely anybody knew who this person was until now so I doubt it will be "devastating".
Not that I'm trying to downplaying her accomplishments. She has clearly done great work to be at the company for so long and if she is leaving I wish her all the best. Let's just chill on the doom and gloom talk a bit though yeah?
If she moved on she's earned a break after 35 years.
If she was forced out it wasn't for nothing.
Either way I'm sure she doesn't appreciate Jaffe blabbing her private business before she's had a chance to address it.
Let's speculate about other people's lives and livelihoods for clicks. Yay!
'Rumors of bad news' threw me. There is no indication of the reason for departure - how can this be construed as bad news? Of course it may well prove to be for Sony, but if an individual chose to depart a company, for whatever reason, that isn't really 'bad news'.
Jim Ryan Leaves:
"Brilliant news, let's make PlayStation great again!"
Random executive 90% of people had never heard of leaves:
"OMG she was the heart and soul of the company, Sony is now Dead!"
@ChrisDeku @Dragon83 She is not leaving Guerilla games. She is leaving as VP of SIE in charge of plotting future internal directions. She may be replaced by a Guerilla employee.
To me (if true) this puts more credence into Ryan retiring was not his idea but Sony's. Perhaps upper brass had increasing concern on the path he has set SIE on with the heavy push into GAAS at the expense of other areas. Along with the possible fallout/blowback Ryan's narrative push with regulators on ABK will cause Sony and the industry. And "retiring" to spend time with family is a way for Ryan to save face and the company to avoid panic among investors by him suddenly not working their anymore. But if others start to fall or upper SIE brass see demotions into other positions it will become even more apparent.
It is quite strange to say you are going to retire at end of the year but are immediately replaced by the VP of Sony proper, immediately leaving Ryyan with no control of anything. And Totoki who is now in charge of SIE has no history in gaming. He is the CFO/COO of Sony proper (second in command). Why are people just accepting things at face value ("I am restring to spend time with family" oldest push out statement there is) when we have things like this happening.
To me (if this is true) this is just adding more ammo the possibility of a change in leadership at SIE was forced.
@ChrisDeku Hher job was to implement internal direction SIE changes. Which if you add it to other recent moves like Ryan;s supposed need to retire could set a pattern of internal strife with Sony proper in Japan with SIE in the US. Perhaps it is connected. I am still of the belief Ryan was forced out. Firing would have caused too much panic among investors, so (conjectur on my part) he was given a save face way out with retiring. Let's not forget how they treated their last guy. But if he was retiring at the end of the year/early next year normally they would still retain power until that time came and/or a true replacement could be found. But, that is not what is happening. Sony immediately remove him from any further decision capability and replaced him temporarily with Totoki COO/CFO of Sony (a man with no gaming experience but is second in command of all Sony.) Ryan is still around. Why? And Totoki serves no purpose other than to ease internal (upper brass) of concerns they may have and possible start to right a ship they believe has taken some bad turns under Ryan that may cost the division dearly (i.e heavy focus on GAAS and resulting in mismanagement of first-party normal output)
"Booth has been with PlayStation since the beginning" if true that is almost 30 years. Maybe she's just retiring. A lot can change in 30 years.
Not gonna lie, I haven't heard of her. Although given that every company needs to evolve to stay relevant in an ever changing market, old guards need to be changed once in a while. Good thing? Bad thing? Who knows, but people who get paid more than I do, and have analysts for their analysts will know more about this than I ever will.
@Darylb88 It IS an American giant. PlayStation is based in California, not Tokyo.
@OnceaThief Jim Ryan has been with PlayStation for pretty much the same length of time yet many seem to be happy about him leaving. These people were never going to stay forever.
@ImGumbyDammit Where did you get the idea that Jim Ryan is immediately replaced by Totoki? That isn't the case at all. On SIE's own website:
"As mentioned in the press release, I will continue my role as President and CEO until March 2024. Effective April 1, 2024, Hiroki Totoki will be appointed Interim CEO of SIE while he continues his current role at Sony Group Corporation."
This is simply standard practice for companies when a permanent successor hasn't been determined yet.
To be honest I have no idea who Jaffe and Connie or Totoki are and I wasn't even aware who Ryan was before he tried to close the PS Vita store and made me rush to buy the PS1 classics I missed only for the store to remain open. I am pretty sure the same applies to most, even they follow the news a lot.
@Broosh Yup, this isn't the Sony I grew up with, that's for sure. Can hardly recognize Playstation anymore.
I don't understand why people still care about what Jaffe says or not he's an attention wh*re, nothing more.
He talks about "the playstation we knew" when he knows perfectly when he talks sh*t about Nintendo the news won't say his name they will say "God of War creator" and he still does it giving the brand a bad reputation.
He hasn't been part of PS or GOW for almost 20 years, the "Jaffe we knew" died that day so stop giving a sick person reach.
@OnceaThief reliable source? He always makes drama about everything, sources tell facts they don't put their opinions or feelings in the info and guess what those "articles" are going to make emphasis for the clicks, the info or the opinion of a guy that knows talking sh*t brings him the attention he needs? It's not that hard.
Why do we give Jaffe attention?
I can't help feeling if this was a guy leaving sony after 30 years the comment section would be in outrage. If she was really that important to Sony then this is one nail in Sony's coffin so far. And to the guy saying SIE is an American super power or whatever, just because it's based in California that doesn't mean nothing. Still owned by the Japanese who can shup up shop and move it to their own turf anytime they want so stop with the patriotic crap. And I for one am happy Jim Ryan is gone. His policy of new hardware with nothing to play on it was annoying, he would've been great in Sony's TV and blu ray department as they don't require games to play, something that idiot seemed to know nothing about
Oops. David Gaffe.
Know what, I'd be very interested to know how Connie Booth herself feels about David Jaffe telling all this stuff about her in public. I mean, he clearly didn't consult with her, as he admits he doesn't know any details, but that doesn't stop him from airing wild rumours such as her team being walked out.
Her name is suddenly all over every gaming website, that's a lot of attention that she might not have wanted. I wonder if he paused to think about that for even a single second, or if he couldn't wait to use her name to sell his own agenda.
@Kidfried I do yes. Got to keep an eye on what you pens are saying
Love the irony here, where people say that Jaffe (or his oppinion) is irrelevant xD
Wish the energy to slander Jaffe could be exercised towards Jeff Grubb too.
Mad mentality from people on here.
Is Jaffe still annoyed Sony didn't inform him about the supposed twisted metal reboot. He's clearly still salty about something.
Jaffa was Sony's Cliffy B or vise versa. Both loud back in their time.
@OnceaThief They were both executives with no creative roles, only one got promoted more than the other. Did you think Connie Booth was down on the floor creating art assets and designing levels? She was the Company Woman.
I actually have no idea who she is/was and that she even existed in the company. Not sure how she held the company together too.
@Juanalf While I don't wish anyone to lose their job, I'd be more than happy if the live service and PC push teams find employment elsewhere
@stBoa Brilliant!
@Darylb88 Definitely in the USA these days - and not for the better.
Saying that someone has all those titles on their CV means nothing creatively. Kathleen Kennedy has one of the most illustrious CV's in movie making yet is creatively bankrupt and by all accounts a terrible person.
That’s no good if true, but let her speak for herself if she wants.
@OnceaThief Thats a lot of words to say literally nothing.
Maybe attempting to understand someone's perspective is more productive than scoring Internet points. You’re absolutely missing the forest for the trees here. A stitch in time saves nine. They are the eggmen, I am the walrus, coo-coo-cachoo. See I can say meaningless nonsense too.
“The brand's identity is dying tragically” That’s literally an opinion, chap.
“ But they both served two very different roles in their careers.” Bingo Bongo, another opinion right here. An incorrect one but an opinion nonetheless.
I bet you thought this sounded smart in your head 😂😂😂
@devildragon2k23 huh jim ryans been with playstation the entire time from ps1 to ps5. i don't understand where this idea comes from he doesn't like games on the system. i guess its easy to forget the set back covid delayed so many games , and their easing the crunch time developing on getting games out asap as well ( which is a good thing not making them work 80 hours a week).
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