PlayStation veteran and gaming industry legend Shuhei Yoshida has announced that he will be leaving Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) after 31 years at the company. The Sony executive, who currently oversees the company’s independent developer program, will leave SIE on January 15, 2025. Yoshida said that after more than 30 years at Sony in various roles, it was time for him to leave. The executive joined the Japanese company in 1993 when it was still developing the first PlayStation console and later served as president of PlayStation Studios until 2019.
Sony CEO Shuhei Yoshida announces retirement
Yoshida said in an interview on the PlayStation Blog on Tuesday that he will leave the company next year. “Yeah, I have something to announce. I’m leaving Sony Interactive Entertainment on January 15, 2025… It’s like announcing a release date for a new game, [something] I haven’t done this in a long time. ” he said.
The executive said that after 30 years at Sony, he began to think it was time to leave. Yoshida believes Sony is in a good position, adding that he’s excited about PlayStation’s future. “You know, the company has been doing great. I love PS5, I love the games that are coming out on the platform. And we have a new generation of management that I respect and admire,” he said. “So you know, PlayStation was very well managed. I thought, OK, this is my time.”
Yoshida joined Sony in 1993 when the company was developing the first PlayStation game console. The executive recalled PlayStation’s early days, when it was just a division of Sony. Yoshida said during the interaction that the company is working to bring 3D graphics and CD-ROM to its consoles while keeping manufacturing costs low.
“However, we were not well-known in the video game industry. There were other electronics companies, big companies that tried to get into the video game industry and, you know, didn’t do well. So to be honest, before PlayStation came out, I don’t think we were taken seriously by the industry,” he said.
The industry veteran later became president of PlayStation Studios in 2008 before stepping down to lead Sony’s new independent projects, working with and supporting outside independent game developers. In the interview, Yoshida called his current role a “dream job.”
“…When I go to events like E3 or Gamescom, I always go to the indie game section. I find games that I like, and the developers often showcase it there. So I’ll take pictures with the developers to try to help promote those games,” he said. “When I was running PlayStation Studios, it was pretty much my hobby. So when I got this job where I could spend 100% of my time helping indie developers, it was like a dream job.”