Gaming News He is the source of the PS5’s success, his departure is a shock! Here are Jim Ryan’s highlights on PlayStation
Published on September 30, 2023 at 9:00 a.m
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While Jim Ryan suddenly announced his resignation as CEO of PlayStation, the editorial team returns to a man who considers himself “shy” and whose decisions were not always unanimous.
Preface:
Jim Ryan’s departure was announced in a special context: a major hacker attack on Sony. There is currently no evidence that these two events are connected. On that note: good reading about JV.
If we hope for rhinestones and sequins for the announcement of a game, the transfer window of industry experts is generally much more sober… So on September 27th, through a simple press release, we learned about the departure of Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment (basically PlayStation). The man will leave the Japanese manufacturer’s premises in March 2024 and go into his well-deserved retirement. “I enjoyed the opportunity to have a job I love in a very special company (…) But I’m finding it increasingly difficult to balance my life in Europe | “My work in North America,” he reveals. The Englishman will have determined the strategy of the video game industry for almost five years, after taking up his role as “Big Boss” in April 2019. Starting next month, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki will serve as interim CEO to “support Jim Ryan and his transition.” Nothing is yet known about his future successor.
Who is Jim Ryan?
While the name Jim Ryan is inevitably familiar to keen industry observers, this is not the case with the general public. So who is “Jim Ryan”? Even before we sat on the PlayStation throne, He is a veteran of the brand. In 1994, with the introduction of the PS1, the Englishman became part of Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe (formerly Sony Computer Entertainment Europe)! “My mission was to create PlayStation companies on the continent,” he tells GamesIndustry.biz. “I had to find premises, hire people and organize distribution.” At the time, Sony’s video game division employed twenty people in the UK but none in the rest of Europe.
In short, it is a first major project. “It was a very demanding job,” Jim Ryan recalled in the same interview. The man then rose through the ranks to head Sony Europe’s “finance department” as the PS2 and the transition to the 2000s loomed. Once again, great power means great responsibility… At the beginning of the new millennium, the Old Continent is a market with its own rules (like Japan) and, before the introduction of the Euro, a number of different currencies. Ultimately, “Europe became the leading market for the PS2,” notes Jim Ryan. The Englishman will then hold the position of President of Sony Europe; global sales and marketing director at Sony Interactive; and deputy big boss of PlayStation! The rest in 2019, you know that.
An “Inspirational Leader”
In other words, Jim Ryan is a “Businessman |”. Growth professional” who is not afraid to take on big projects… Announcing his departure, Sony Group CEO Kenichiro Yoshida even described him as an “inspirational leader” throughout his career at Sony. And above all, Yoshida welcomes the launch of the PS5 (November 2020), then under the supervision of Jim “himself”, in the midst of COVID-19. Yes, neither the pandemic nor the lack of components prevented the next-gen console from becoming the brand’s “biggest console launch”. A great achievement that continues to this day, with a total of 40 million copies registered last month! All this in less than three years.
So yes, Jim Ryan was off to a good start with the immense success of the PS4, but the industry often reminds us that a triumph, no matter how enormous, can certainly lead to serious disillusionment (the Wii U after the Wii and the PS3 after PS2). The CEO and his teams also managed to stay a catalog of exclusive products that is still very powerful (Spider-Man, Demon’s Souls, Ratchet & Clank, Horizon, God of War) while developing an aggressive buyback strategy, in response to Microsoft’s extensive investments. While 2019 was marked by the only acquisition of Insomniac Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired no fewer than six studios in 2021. Four more the following year. The aim is of course to strengthen the company’s portfolio of exclusive products, but above all to expand its areas of expertise. With Nixxes, PlayStation has a company that is 100% dedicated to PC porting. Savage Games knows a thing or two about mobile games – and so on.
Some road trips
Although all of these acquisitions seem to be part of a coherent business plan (in a context where development costs | financial risks have exploded), they also give the impression that this is the case PlayStation is scattering and pulling in all directions, hoping it will pay off. Jim Ryan is therefore criticized for now favoring “game-as-a-service” in favor of 100% single-player games, the same games that nevertheless damaged the brand’s reputation during the PS3 | have shaped PS4. We also hear about the “Americanization” of Sony, with the biggest downside being the closure of the Japan Studio (The Last Guardian, Gravity Rush). Not only did their creations generate millions, but they also brought a certain freshness to the PlayStation catalog compared to western blockbusters like Uncharted. Finally, the group has started producing accessories 100% dedicated to the PS5 – following a model similar to Apple’s. So in the end we have a next-generation headset, headphones, screen and even a remote gaming device! All in all, yesterday’s PlayStation is a bit lost.
We can therefore say that Jim Ryan’s mandate is hot and cold! Unfortunately, The ex-CEO will undoubtedly maintain a somewhat more contrasting image among the players – especially in light of some shocking declarations. He is particularly criticized for speaking out against Game Pass and ultimately renewing PlayStation Plus according to a similar model; I was hesitant about crossplay before reintroducing it. Without forgetting his comments trying to curb Microsoft’s planned takeover of Activision-Blizzard-King and bringing Call of Duty to PS4 | to keep PS5! According to the coveted publisher’s vice president, Jim Ryan even stated, “I just want to block this merger.” A goal worth forgetting as the enormous acquisition nears validation. Anyway, for someone who wanted to “evolve Sony Entertainment” in 2019 (his words when he took office), everyone agrees on one thing: the contract is fulfilled, Jimmy.
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