Change of course in Sony: PlayStation will have not one but two CEOs

Sony has announced that, starting from June 1st, Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino will be appointed as co-CEOs to lead the PlayStation brand. Hulst, currently in charge of PlayStation Studios, will assume the role of CEO of the business group for Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) studios, while Nishino will become CEO of the business group for SIE platforms. Both will report to Hiroki Totoki, Sony’s Chief Financial Officer and President of SIE.

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This unusual movement in the industry comes after the retirement of Jim Ryan, former director of PlayStation, and Sony’s decision to split the management responsibilities of PlayStation between platforms and games. Both Nishino and Hulst are Sony veterans, with Nishino having over 20 years of experience.

This is the first time that Sony appoints co-executive directors to lead its PlayStation division, and it comes at a time when the video game industry is experiencing one of the worst moments in its history, with a large number of layoffs in the last 18 months. Sony laid off 900 PlayStation employees earlier this year and closed London Studio in the UK. Its rival Microsoft also laid off 1,900 employees from Activision, Bethesda, and Xbox, and closed studios like Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks.

The announcement of the new leaders of PlayStation precedes the presentation of Sony’s latest financial results. The company lowered the sales forecast for its PlayStation 5 console last quarter, and the results are expected to shed light on the performance of PS5 sales in the fiscal year 2023, which ended on March 31. More information is also expected to be revealed about Sony’s plans for PlayStation on PC.

During a previously held results call, Totoki spoke about the opportunity to expand PlayStation games to PC and other platforms. Additionally, he highlighted the synergy between first-party content and other platforms, and how this could “help improve the company’s operating profit.”

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