Last night, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Jim Ryan announced he’s stepping down from the CEO role after 28 years with the company – the last five as its president and CEO. And we do mean he announced it; following a formal press release revealing that Sony Group COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki will assume the role in his stead until a permanent replacement is found, Ryan penned his own brief farewell letter, telling Sony and PlayStation fans and investors that the decision is down to the stress of family and work spread out over the world. (That’s probably not code for anything; it’s something he’s mentioned repeatedly in interviews since taking over the unit.)
“I did not take this decision lightly and I absolutely love SIE and our community, but of late I’ve been finding it increasingly difficult to strike the right balance between having my home in the UK and my job in the United States,” he writes. His retirement is official as of March 2024.
As financial websites have pointed out, Sony’s profits have been slipping and targets have been missed this year as the company has contended with sluggish PS5 sales, the writers’ strike delaying Sony Pictures’ releases, and weakening tech and finance markets. But PlayStation itself is still the console market leader, and in spite of the fight over the Microsoft ABK buyout, Ryan is going out on top.
