Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), Sony's video game division, will step down in March 2024, the company announced in a statement on Wednesday, September 27. "Jim Ryan has made the decision to retire in March 2024 after nearly 30 years with PlayStation," Sony said.
"I have relished the opportunity to have a job I love in such a special company (...). But I'm finding it increasingly difficult to reconcile my life in Europe with my work in North America," said Ryan on September 27. The Japanese multinational's video game subsidiary is based in San Mateo, California.
The 63-year-old Briton, who grew up in the suburbs of Newcastle, joined SIE in 1994, the year the first PlayStation was launched in Japan. He went on to head up the company's European branch and held a number of senior positions, including SIE's sales and marketing director, before being appointed president and CEO in 2019. Hiroki Totoki, Sony's chief operating and financial officer, will act as interim CEO from April 1, 2024, pending the appointment of a new CEO.
In November 2020, Jim Ryan was at the helm of the launch of Sony's latest console, the PlayStation 5, in a period marked by the Covid-19 pandemic. Its release was notably disrupted by component shortages and a reduced number of consoles in store. It has since sold over 40 million units, according to the manufacturer.
Ryan was also at the forefront of Sony's fight to prevent Microsoft's $69 billion takeover of publisher Activision Blizzard (Call of Duty, Diablo 4, Candy Crush). On several occasions, it has claimed that this takeover would enable its competitor, the Xbox console maker, to offer exclusivity for the hugely successful Call of Duty shooter series. Last July, while the takeover was under scrutiny by US and British competition authorities, Microsoft and SIE signed an agreement to ensure that the license would continue to be released on PlayStation.
Under Ryan's presidency, SIE also worked on the buyouts of several studios, including Bungie (the American creators of Halo and Destiny) for $3.6 billion, or the Finnish Housemarque (creators of Returnal).
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.