PlayStation Appoints Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino as New Co-CEOs - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 13 May 2024 / 3,018 Views
Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO retired at the end of March and the company has now announced Hermen Hulst will be appointed to CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment's Studio Business Group and Hideaki Nishino will be appointed CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Platform Business Group, effective June 1, 2024.
Hiroki Totoki has been serving as the interim CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment and will become a chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment, along with his current roles of President, COO, and CFO of Sony.
Hulst and Nishino will report to Totoki with the goal to "collaborate closely to strengthen each core business while maximizing synergies" at PlayStation.
Hulst has been the senior vice president and head of PlayStation Studios with the responsibility to oversee the development of content for the PlayStation and PCs, as well as bringing video game IPs to new medium like film and television via PlayStation Productions.
Nishino has been the senior vice president of the Platform Experience Group with the responsibility to oversee the development of experiences and technology in PlayStation products and services.
"Sony Interactive Entertainment is a dynamic and growing business that delivers incredible entertainment experiences through the connection of content and technology," said Totoki. "These two leaders will have clear responsibilities and will manage strategic direction to ensure the focus remains on deepening engagement with existing PlayStation users and expanding experiences to new audiences."
Nishino added, "We will continue to connect players and creators through world-class products, services, and technology. We always strive to grow our community even bigger with innovation in every area at Sony Interactive Entertainment. I am honored to be appointed such an important role alongside Hermen. By working more closely together, we will be positioned to build incredible experiences for an ever-expanding audience now and in the future."
Hulst stated, "I am thrilled to lead the studio business group and continue to build on our success with PlayStation 5, while preparing for the future. The video game industry is one of the largest entertainment industries in the world and has been built on the marriage of content and technology, and I look forward to continuing to push the boundaries of play and entertainment."
Read a message from Totoki that was sent to Sony Interactive Entertainment employees below:
It brings me great pleasure to announce that I have decided on the succession strategy for the role of CEO at SIE. Over the last decade, SIE has grown tremendously, building upon our continuous successes in hardware, software and services through a sharper focus on player engagement.
To continue this growth and momentum, we are moving forward with a new management structure for SIE. Effective June 1, Hideaki Nishino will be appointed CEO of SIE’s Platform Business Group, and Hermen Hulst will be appointed CEO of SIE’s Studio Business Group. Effective the same date, I will step down from my current role as interim CEO and become Chairman of SIE, in addition to my roles at SGC. Both Hermen and Nishino-san will report to me as SIE Chairman.
Nishino-san will continue his role leading the Platform Experience Group, overseeing technology, products, services, and platform experience. He will also oversee third party publisher and developer relations and commercial operations, including sales and marketing of hardware, services, and peripherals.
Hermen will continue to lead the SIE Studios business, including PlayStation Studios, Bungie, and PlayStation Productions. He will be responsible for the development, publishing, and business operations of SIE’s first party content as well as IP expansion opportunities through PlayStation Productions.
Later this month you will learn more about the long-term vision for Sony Group and the essential role SIE plays in that vision. As I mentioned previously, FY24 marks the start of the Mid-Range Plan period for Sony Group in which we will set the course for sustainable growth.
The future is incredibly bright for SIE and that is thanks to all of you. Since I became Chairman in October 2023, I have been inspired by your enthusiasm, innovative approaches, and teamwork. These values will serve us well as we embark on the exciting future for SIE.
Please join me in congratulating Nishino-san and Hermen on their new roles.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Good, lets see if this will work. Hermen Hulst started as developer, so he's likely better than just a executive focused on numbers and revenue.
Exactly what I was thinking. This was probably the best move Sony would make. I've been dreading them coming up with some crazy plan to bring in an ex-AT&T or Warner Bros. (or whoever) executive who will immediately start talking about putting ads in games or something.
This reminds me of how Disney was run in its first early days with Walt Disney focused on the creative side and Roy Disney focused on the financial side.
Yeah. Hopefully this new combination will lead to a lot of success. Jim Ryan led PlayStation to a lot of financial success but in the nearly exactly 5 years with him as CEO he whined several notable times, lied or ignored fan concerns, and while PS5 has a had a strong software lineup, there is still so much potential.
I want PlayStation to publish more small and mid-size games with less to little focus on cinematics.
Jim Ryan was hardly the only one to take credit for successes and failures (he's one man), but I hope with him gone PlayStation goes into a golden age. Hulst and Nishino might be able to pull it off.
Congrats to Hermen!
Well deserved from humble beginnings!
Man, Hermen's been on quite the fast track lately.
I like this. The roles seem to be unique enough to not let the platform interfere with the making of games. It's unusual. It's unique. I am encouraged by the notion of trying new things.
Maybe PS6 will be good then.
Wonder what The Amazing Lucas will think of "Tea and Crumpets" being a CO CEO of Sony Playstation division
Good luck! Honestly, it is a huge challenge to make the gaming division generate the revenue expected by shareholders. I don't just say for Playstation, but for XBox, Embracer Group, EA, Ubisoft, Tencent, Take Two, Square Enix and other studios, which have been laying off people since last year.
I believe in the gaming market, but I don't believe that the console platform can save the gaming industry. I believe that mobile, cloud gaming, PC will be the platforms that generate the most revenue, but consoles are starting to lose their relevance, of course this could take another 20 to 50 years, as there are new technologies that will certainly replace various current hardware.
Note that there is no real growth in consoles, that is, the Playstation 5 cannot beat the Playstation 4 and the XBox series X/S cannot beat the XBox ONE. Playstation appears to be the most profitable platform, but this is a limited view, as when analyzing Newzoo, it appears that the platforms' market share is distributed as follows:
- Mobile: 49%
- Console: 29%
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PC: 22%
Within the console segment we have:
PS4 and PS5: 174,570,000 (43.60%)
Switch: 139,540,000 (34.85%)
Xbox ONE and Series X/S: 86,280,000 (21.55%)
The real market share of consoles is:
PS4 and PS5: 43.60% 29% = 12.64%
Switch: 34.85% 29% = 10.11%
Xbox ONE and Series X/S: 21.55% * 29% = 6.25%
This proves that Square and XBox themselves are right... releasing to multiple platforms is the path to sustainable development. Hiroki Totoki also knows this, so I'm sure that Playstation will launch its games faster and faster on PC, but it lacks its own store, something that Steam, Epic, EA, XBox and other studios already have. XBox will even launch a mobile store!
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