In major news that was revealed by Variety on Tuesday night—Wednesday morning in Japan—, Sony Corp. has made unexpected changes to its organizational chart. Hideaki Nishino, who was appointed co-CEO and handled the platform side in 2024, will now act as sole president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE).
Hermen Hulst, who was named Co-CEO of SIE last year no longer overseeing the entire company alongside Nishino. However, he remains in his position as CEO of the Studio Business Group, a subdivision created to run the PlayStation studios.
Sony’s Structural Changes At SIE
- Hideaki Totoki has been promoted to CEO of Sony Corp.
- Hideaki Nishino has been promoted to president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment. He also will hold his positions as CEO of the Platform Business Group.
- Hermen Hulst is no longer co-CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment as a whole. He will remain as CEO of the Studio Business Group and will lead PlayStation Productions.
The change represents the second major leadership change over the last year at SIE. Previously, the position of CEO was held by a single person, Jim Ryan, who retired after 30 years of service. With his departure, Sony announced that the position would be filled by two people, the aforementioned Hulst and Nishino.
Now, the company has gone back on its decision, in a way. Another notable change was in the position of CEO of Sony Corp. Hideaki Totoki, a 38-year veteran of the company, will take over the position previously held by Kenichiro Yoshida. All of the above decisions were approved by the board and take effect on April 1st.
Totoki said the following:
“I am incredibly honored and humbled to have been entrusted with the important role of President and CEO,” Totoki said. “My predecessors as CEO, Kazuo Hirai and Kenichiro Yoshida, have greatly enhanced Sony’s value, and I will do my utmost to further build on this success and pass on an even better Sony to the next generation. At our Corporate Strategy Meeting in May of last year, we newly announced our `Creative Entertainment Vision,’ which outlines where we want Sony to be in 10 years, with our Purpose as the guiding principle. Our greatest driver in achieving this is the diversity of our businesses and people, which is part of Sony’s DNA, and our boundary spanners that transcend organizational barriers and organically connect that diversity to create new value. Together with our employees, creators, partners, and our new leadership team, I will work to create a bright future filled with a boundless sense of Kando (emotion).”
Hideaki Nishino also commented on his promotion:
“I am truly honored to take the helm at Sony Interactive Entertainment. Technology and creativity are two of our biggest strengths as we continue to focus on developing experiences that deliver entertainment for everyone. We will continue to grow the PlayStation community in new ways, such as IP expansion, while also delivering the best in technology innovation,” Nishino said. “I want to thank Hermen for his expertise and leadership as he continues his role as CEO, Studio Business Group. I am deeply grateful for the PlayStation community and their continued support and I am very excited for what the future holds,“
What do you think of Sony appointing Nishino as the president and CEO of SIE? Tell us in the comments and join the discussion in our forum.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The article has been updated by the editor for clarity on Hulst’s continued role within the company.
A shift again? This is like a year or 2 after Ryan was fired. PlayStation is a mess. Will Sony Pictures be sold off now and they pursue Kadokawa now?
PlayStation is done it’s too late to turn it around PS6 is done already and games already in motion. Everything for this generation is set in stone they can’t change it now. Sony is just too dumb to realize it they did it with Jim Ryan and now Hulst the damage is done and they can’t fix it, it only gets worse. Shut down PlayStation and sell Sony Pictures off honestly sell Sony Music off too outside of Japan and make the move to buy Kadokawa.
Sony apologized during the PS3 era I see none here they just keep pretending this is ok it’s honestly worse
PlayStation hasn’t been the same since Ken Kutaragi, Kaz Harai, Jack Tretton, and Andrew House left. Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra left Naughty Dog in Neil Druckmanns woke hands so Naughty Dog will start circling the drain (like they say, “Go woke, go broke.” Look at Ubisoft, prime example. DreamWorks Animations on the film side? Gone. Social Engineering killed them and they’re trying to help Disney Animators (held in such high regard fall into the same trap) but Disney isn’t listening to their peers that want Disney to succeed.
Since House left and starting with Shawn Layden and then getting hip deep in with Jim Ryan, PlayStation let the MLB tell the gaming world how they do business, and Phil Spencer wanted a PS IP so bad to move his own terminally ill console that Phil Spencer didn’t even stand up for the industry but accepted MLBs terms to get a Sony IP and then give it away free on Game Pass.
This porting games to PC shows incredible weakness. It shows lack of confidence in the brand. Xbox is doing it because with the reveal of Xbox One, their deceit and lies to their customers has steadily worsened so they had no other alternative to try and stay relevant. PlayStation doesn’t have the same issue but are looking to the industries worse thinking somehow they’re the industry leaders. Xbox is a terrible example of how to do business in their own woke and progressive views that are killing them slowly. PlayStation that was the very final word in gaming is following the industries worst? Nintendo has the most to lose if the industry folds, Microsoft goes back to business software and Sony has the only end-to-end ecosystem. If Nintendo isn’t worried and adopting progressive views, why is Sony? Nintendo is still 100% console exclusive and the Switch is about to outsell and unseat/dethrone the number 1 selling console of ALL TIME, THE PS2 THAT FUNCTIONED ENTIRELY OFF OF EXCLUSIVES! They made developers believers while Xbox struggled to find footing in the business….. And PlayStation is now chasing Xbox?
The PS3 was their greatest strength, it helped them learn and discover their inner strength with their first-party envied the industry over. Phil Spencer can only hope to achieve such greatness but Xbox lacks the ability to find focusing more on the business side rather than the gamer PlayStation really focused on in 2009 under Kaz, Jack Tretton, and Andrew House, that’s all gone now. PlayStation has surrendered innovation of hardware for off the shelf PC parts because there is no Steve Jobs any more. The PS3 that was, apparently, so difficult to develop for, where Sony first-party had a new game out every two years, with now supposedly easier hardware to develop for us five years in with nothing to show for it, Insomniac Games carrying all the weight. But even their creative visions are smothered as they’re doomed to the Marvel Universe now. Marcus Smith had just created Sunset Overdrive….. Gone now, relegated to an existence only on the competitions platform….. Why?
I thought when I saw the title of this article, Herman Hulst was sent back to where he belonged, where his strength was back at Guerilla Games……. But nothing has changed. PlayStation still maintains their progressive views rather than staying the course in conservative business where they succeeded and had their name.
I highly doubt anyone in this comments thread agrees with me. They’re likely as progressive thinking (assuming they’re not in the Xbot camp here to make a stir) probably saying PlayStation isn’t doing enough to be more console friendly like Phil Spencer that, remember, is helming a sinking ship. Again, look at Nintendo. Mario isn’t on PC, Zelda isn’t on PC, Metroid isn’t on PC, and the Switch has sold 140 million units and still going.
PlayStation needs to return to its roots. Abandon the PC market and bet on your own hardware. Stop showing weakness and demonstrate strength again. You don’t need PC and PC doesn’t need you. Your competition is Nintendo, not Xbox. Stop following the weaker and instead, play in the arena as the stronger