Sony appoints CEOs Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino to lead PlayStation business from June 1. Hermen Hulst, currently head of PlayStation studios, will be appointed CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE) studio business group. Hideaki Nishino will be appointed CEO of SIE’s platform business group and will both report to Sony CFO and SIE Chairman Hiroki Totokiye.
The unusual appointment of CEOs comes just months after the retirement of former PlayStation boss Jim Ryan. Totoki was serving as SIE’s interim CEO and SIE was working to find a successor to the CEO role, but Sony has now decided to divide up the responsibilities of running the PlayStation business across platforms and games. Both Nishino and Hulst are veterans of Sony, with Nishino having served in multiple roles at Sony for over 20 years.
It’s the first time Sony has appointed joint CEOs to run its PlayStation business, and it comes amid games industry layoffs over the past 18 months. Earlier this year, Sony laid off 900 PlayStation employees and closed its London Studio, which develops PlayStation VR games in the UK. Microsoft laid off 1,900 Activision and Xbox workers earlier this year and then closed Bethesda studios. Redfall and Hi-Fi Rush in another round of layoffs last week.
The announcement of Sony’s new PlayStation leaders also comes just hours before it reports its latest earnings. Sony lowered its PS5 console sales forecasts last quarter, so all eyes are on the number of PS5 units the company can sell in fiscal year 2023, which ends on March 31. We may also get further hints about Sony’s ambitious PlayStation PC plans.
So did SIE Chairman Hiroki Totoki during an earnings call earlier this year was discussed Ability to develop PlayStation games on PC / multiplatform. “In the past, we wanted to popularize the console … but there’s a synergy,” Totoki said. “So if you have strong first-party content, not only with our console, but also with other platforms like PCs, first-party can grow with multiple platforms, which can help improve operating profit.”