Sony president Hiroki Totoki will today step into his new role as PlayStation CEO following Jim Ryan's retirement after a more than 30-year tenure at the company. While retaining his duties across the wider business, Totoki's main objective will be to aid the search for a true successor to Jim Ryan while defining "the next chapter of PlayStation's future".
Given the temporary nature of Totoki's position, it's not expected the Sony president will make any immediate changes to the PlayStation brand and approach. If he were to, however, Totoki has shared opinions in the past that line up with the current multi-platform initiatives on PC and mobile. Dubbed a bit of a "numbers guy", Totoki has said he wants Sony to be "aggressive" when improving the division's profit margins.
Upon the announcement of his retirement last year, Jim Ryan said the constant travel between Europe, the USA, and Japan became more difficult for him, and was one factor in his departure. "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 CEO Kenichiro Yoshida then added: "Jim Ryan has been an inspirational leader throughout his entire period with us, but never more so than in overseeing the launch of PlayStation 5 in the midst of the global COVID pandemic. That extraordinary achievement made by the entire SIE team has been steadily built on and PlayStation 5 is on track to become SIE’s most successful console yet. I’m immensely grateful to Jim for all his achievements."
[source videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 54
Reminder that this guy is a finance guy, who has zero experience running a videogame company, and almost definitely was responsible for the closure of London Studio.
But that doesn't make him anywhere near as bad as the pure evil that is Jim Ryan.
(And yes, that last bit was sarcastic)
He's there to get the budgets under control.
Hopefully in between sacking studios and issuing mass layoffs he finds the time to start a Literature Club.
Okey dokey, Hiroki Totoki!
They’ve had a whole year to search for a replacement knowing he would be leaving. What have they been doing?
Quick! Someone tell him Bloodborne on PS5 and PC will make a lot of money!
What I want from the next CEO.
Move PS HQ back to Japan, and make more AA first party games again.
@RBMango
There is no Bloodborne in Ba Sing Se.
@Steel76 wouldn't make any sense to move to Japan when their biggest studios are in America.
I know it's wishful thinking and all but hopefully it will get into Japanese hands again or at least not such an American bully kinda type.
If people thought the way Jim Ryan ran things was bad, they're in for a rude awakening with this guy.
Totoki probably doesn't care at all about PlayStation's gaming heritage or placating the ever growing concerns of the hardcore fanbase. All he's going to do is whatever will drive up profits, consequences be damned.
I hope they find a full time replacement soon before the PlayStation brand becomes further diluted.
Incoming PlayStation Plus price hike in 3, 2, 1......
Hiroki Totoki Literature Club
I hope he doesn't forget that playstation also is where it is right now because of all the quirky, weird, smaller games which probably do not make all that much money but elevate the image.
@BeerIsAwesome Jim Ryan almost killed the brand, but for the fanboys, he was the best CEO lol what worse than that Hiroki Totoki can do? Ending the console production and going full PC?
Some of you guys really live in an alternate reality.
Seems like he's going to be the "bad guy" who's going to run a tight operation, make some tough calls and get the ship back in order (financially at least). Once the financials are straightened out, the path will be clear for a "nice guy" to come in and lead the way with a clean state. Heard this theory a while back and think it makes a lot of sense.
@Jedihillis Lol, I like how it’s being shortened to just “Mr. Literature Club”
@awp69 Laying off people
If they didn't keep cancelling games that were years in development then maybe they would be a bit more profitable.
Jim Ryan owes his success as CEO to Shawn Layden. If Playstation would have been struggling when he stepped in, his decisions would have sank the company.
I hope Jim’s replacement encourages a PlayStation brand that actually communicates with its fans, like in the old kaz hurai days…
Yoshida-san is correct in giving Jim Ryan kudos for how he and Sony handled the Launch of the PS5 during the Dog days of Covid, thats with barring ALL of the Scummy Scalpers out there!
But I still don't completely agree with Hiroki Totoki's overly aggressive approach (that Push Square mentioned before) to having more simultaneous Launches of PS First Party titles on both PS Hardware and PC for more profit, (especially if they do it early on) in a New Hardware Generation's Life Cycle, because it could easily slow down (some people) from adopting Sony's Newer Hardware with them just sticking with their PC Hardware, and playing Sony's Games on it instead.
But if done right, with a slower (Ramped Up Release Date approach) for First Party PS to PC Game release Dates, you can increasingly get them closer to that Near Parity Game Release date state, without Sony unintentionally cannibalizing some of their Hardware Sales in doing it.
For Example, At the Beginning of a New Generation with Brand New Hardware, you start by simply tapering First Party PS to PC Games Release Dates, starting from a Semi-Far Off Release Date, then through time gradually edging Game Releases into that Closer PS to PC Release Date Territory.
But again, only closing the Game Release Date Gap between PS and PC in a slow Methodical way as to Sync the PC Release Dates in time with the Increasing Age of the Newer PS Hardware, so that it doesn't Cannibalize too much of its own Hardware Sales from the start, and in turn it would Maximize Profits between both of Sony's Hardware and Software Divisions going Forward.
Happy Gaming ✌!
@ChrisDeku hahaha best response
@Shrek_Realista you do understand that Playstation is selling out competition more than 2:1 during the generation that was designed and developed solely during his tenure.
Everything can be considered a failure if you squint hard enough, but calling Jim a failure takes real effort
If he does well throughout that temporary time as CEO, why couldn't he stay right?
Wave a large cheque under Shawn Layden's nose - job done.
Hopefully they will bring Playstation back to Japan again.
This is the first generation really they gave total control to America and it Failed.
You only have to look at the state of the western game divisions across all publishers to see its in an awful state atm. While the likes of Capcom, From Software and Nintendo are carrying this generation with no lay offs
@ArcadeHeroes You understand all those Japanese companies average wage for game devs is probably about 1/3rd of a western studio and they all do 10-20 hours of unpaid overtime every week, right?
I'll do it.
This minimum word count for comments is......
@Steel76 And create or acquire more Japanese studios
sack media molecule they haven't released a game other then tearaway and dreams both games that didn't even sell past the 500.000 games.
they are to busy doing other things.
@Keyblade-Dan and korean stellar blade.
@ChrisDeku at least those studios do their job.
in the us and canada they have useless days off just for feeling bad.
Woooooooooooo! HAAAPPYY DAAAYY!
What we will probably see with him in command since he's addicted to company growth:
@Americansamurai1 the worst studios
Hiroki Totoki's Literature Club
@truerbluer Yep in my eyes Jim expanded what PS is good at and went into the MP space. My fear is that this dude is going full at the mobile/mtx market and what might look good on paper but ruin the console for (lacklustre) sales on PC.
@pirlega i mean can you name a better studio than Santa Monica, naughty dog, insomniac, or sucker punch within sont first party? Top tier studios. You also have bluepoint and bend studio
@Jedihillis I came to say the same thing. Since you beat me to it, I’ll have to issue a stand down. 😉
@Jedihillis Stand down!
@sanderson72 Shawn sold his soul to Tencent unfortunately.
Third party deals, consistency, PC whatever the case. Whoever they get to step in properly they better be good or else I'm going to continue avoiding the brand/their products this gen but looking at the news every time just encase something happens.
That Shawn or others magic would be nice but I doubt it.
Seeing the more creative studios go because oh sales when they only do so much I mean family friendly or particular audiences into creative games aren't big enough sadly.
But it's just going to further make me have only third parties or no parties reason to own a PlayStation. Other than a Ultra Blu-ray player and I don't need one. That or a POSTing quite on start up console and I have an Xbox One for that besides it's CD app/back compat.
Their hardware as much as PSVR2 and Portal have been a disappointment I need software to care about and I haven't found much to give me reason to want a PS5 yet.
Whilst PS Owners might hope for a Shawn Layden or Shuhei Yoshida type who'd take the reigns, they will likely aim for another "numbers/business" guy. Keeping in mind that Jim Ryan's predecessor was Andrew House(?).
At least one legacy of Ryan's era that could improve is communication...unlike Shawn Layden (who headed U.S & Worldwide studios,& the likes of Shu Yoshida & others current Worldwide Studios head Hermen Hulst (formerly of Guerilla Games),is much like Ryan in rarely interacting publicly & usually with high end media sites rather than gaming news sites. Realistically he should be the more visible face of Playstation gaming but thus far usually just releases curated announcements or tweets.
Time will tell.
@ChrisDeku Maybe Sony don't want to be linked with modern day slavery. 10-20hr unpaid work a week pfff. No wonder the world is the way it is with companies taking advantage of these people.
Whoever is writing comments about how playststion has failed and how Japan needs more studios because some how Jim Ryan, destroyed it are living in a deluded world.
PS5 is Sonys fastest selling console and out pacing its direct competi by 3 maybe 4 to 1.
This is reality for anyone who doesn't understand.
Western first party Studios have been at the forefront of playstation success since the beginning.
Japan Studios which has been folded into other studios and mainly Team Asobi, which Team Asobi was a sub division for Japan Studios.
Japan Studios failure was nothing to do with playstation closing them down. Their failure was they hadn't done anything meaningful in over 10 years while they wrestled with the last guardian project.
They didn't really have any other Japanese studio either.
Capcom success is very recent, it wasn't that long ago that they was in dire need of change or they would of gone under.
Nintendo is in a league of its own since before Playstation was a thing. They have enough money that the Wii U was such a failure that they just put it down to a loss and moved on.
Just look at Sega for a normal company,
Sega Saturn and Sega Dreamcast failed and the company basically crumbled to the point it was a shell of its former self for a long time.
Now Playstation complete failure,
by having the most sold console ever PS2 (158million)
Switch is behind at 131million.
The fastest selling console of all time, PS4 coming up quick PS5.
PS3 was a slow starter but by the end, out sold the xbox 360.
Playststion 5 is out pacing Xbox series X by 3:1
And its not that far behind Switch considering that the Switch came out way before PS5.
So the deluded thinking that playststion is some how failing is ridiculous. They are the most consistent gaming company in the world and far from failing.
The lay offs which every single industry is having is nothing to do with failing its all to do with the global economy being an absolute mess and the higher costs we are all facing in life. Nothing to do with failure.
Removed - off-topic; user is banned
„ PS5 is Sonys fastest selling console and out pacing its direct competi by 3 maybe 4 to 1.“ what are you talking about, the switch sold almost 3x and is owning the market
Bad times for PS, Xbox's have their chance to surpass the japanese.
@BeerIsAwesome studios are closed if they do not provide a compelling reason why they still should be funded. The name of the studio means nothing it is the team plus an idea. There is no guarantee for a successful sequel, in particular not because people are moving around frequently.
@gaston This is correct. And the guys responsible are always the numbers guys. Poor old Jim Ryan probably loved working with that studio given it's rich heritage and the fact he's British. And the anecdotal evidence that he was a generally popular boss.
The new guy isn't a long-serving PlayStation (or any other gaming for that matter), so he'll have an automatic detachment to begin with. Coupled with Jim Ryan suddenly retiring with nobody to step right in like the previous times PlayStation heads have stepped down suggests he was either pushed or fell on his sword in subservience to his higher ups.
@Cikajovazmaj Nice, now tell me how I could like a guy who turned the brand into a GaaS ***** show and was saying that no one wants to play old games.
Will you all keep defending Jim Ryan when 80% of the Playstation Library turns to GaaS in the future?
@Shrek_Realista by understanding that to maintain diverse portfolio you have to have a healthy business that can afford taking risks/eating up unforseen loses.
If having 80% of new releases be GaaS (which I don't care about at all) means other 20% be stuff like GoW, Horizon, GT7, upcoming Stellar Blade, etc.. I'm OK with that.
Better than having zero games of that level, which as a disappointed Series owner I can attest to.
Tap here to load 54 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...