Hiroki Totoki

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With the PlayStation 5 entering the second half of its life, figures from Sony indicate around half of all current PlayStation gamers are yet to upgrade to current gen.

Sony has replaced outgoing CEO Jim Ryan with an all-star tag-team partnership: Hermen Hulst will lead PS Studios and its intellectual property, while Hideaki Nishino will focus on hardware and services. The pair, together, will be tasked with leading PlayStation into a new era, as PS5 enters the latter half of its lifecycle and the company explores new initiatives, like PC, mobile, and television.

As the ol’ Spice Girls song goes: two become one. PlayStation has decided to replace Jim Ryan with two executives: Hermen Hulst, the former Guerrilla managing director and current PS Studios chief, will lead a newly named Studio Business Group unit, which will oversee all of the Japanese giant’s first-party studios, as well as its other projects, like PS Productions’ movies and TV shows. He’ll be flanked by Hideaki Nishino, who will lead the organisation’s Platform Business Group, responsible for hardware, accessories, PSN, and third-party relations.

Sony president Hiroki Totoki has stated that we will get to learn more about the long-term vision behind Sony Interactive Entertainment later this month. This would indicate that there are likely some new announcements that will be made soon.

Sony Group is set to reveal its "long-term vision" – including Sony Interactive Entertainment's role in that – later this month, as two PlayStation veterans are brought on board as new SIE CEOs to replace Jim Ryan. 

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SEI) has announced a new leadership structure that puts two people in charge of different parts of its business. Hideaki Nishino, who is currently serving as the SVP for the Platform Experience Group, will become the CEO of SIE's Platform Business Group starting on June 1. On the same day, Hermen Hulst will take on the role of CEO for SIE's Studio Business Group after serving as SVP and Head of PlayStation Studios.

A PlayStation Showcase could be happening before the end of the month. At least, that's what it sounds like based on a letter from Hiroki Totoki, who took over as Chairman of PlayStation after Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino were named CEOs.

Sony Interactive Entertainment has named Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino as the new joint CEOs of the PlayStation business, succeeding Jim Ryan from June 1, 2024.

Following the departure of former Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan, the company announced that Hideaki Nishino will be appointed CEO of the Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Platform Business Group, and Hermen Hulst will be appointed to CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Studio Business Group, effective June 1, 2024. Hiroki Totoki, who is currently serving as interim CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, will serve as chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment in addition to his role as president, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer of Sony Group Corporation. Nishino and Hulst will report to Totoki, and intend to collaborate closely to strengthen each core business while maximizing synergies at Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino will jointly succeed Jim Ryan as the CEOs of Sony Interactive Entertainment.

The God of War Ragnarok PC port announcement is imminent, a reliable leaker has said. Their information indicates that God of War Ragnarok could mark an unprecedentedly short gap between the release of a first-party Sony game and its PC port.

In the last five days, Helldivers 2 was removed from the PC market in 177 countries and the game’s Steam reviews collapsed under the weight of more than 200,000 negative ratings, dropping from Positive to Mixed. It’s now Tuesday and the Helldivers 2 Steam page is overrun with people ranting against Sony and celebrating democracy, and for anyone taking their first glance at the game, it’s all a bit confusing.

A reliable gaming insider has claimed that PlayStation plans to release a new Astro Bot game this year alongside several other "smaller" first-party titles.

Sony fans aren’t exactly in a great place this year. The current head of PlayStation, Hiroki Totoki, flat out confirmed that they don’t have any big scale first party AAAs scheduled to release for all of this financial year, and we are at month one of that period.

Sony president Hiroki Totoki will today step into his new role as PlayStation CEO following Jim Ryan's retirement after a more than 30-year tenure at the company. While retaining his duties across the wider business, Totoki's main objective will be to aid the search for a true successor to Jim Ryan while defining «the next chapter of PlayStation's future».

Sony president, COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki officially begins his role as interim CEO of PlayStation today.

Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition was released on PC last week, and has seen a respectable number of players flocking to partake in Aloy's latest outing.

PlayStation has released a digital Jim Ryan bobblehead to commemorate the exec's time at the company.

It should have been a victorious few weeks for Sony Group Corp.'s PlayStation 5. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, arguably the console's first must-have exclusive title, has been released to rave reviews. Microsoft Corp. has just announced it will allow games previously exclusive to its Xbox machine on rival platforms, tantamount to an admission of defeat in the console wars. And reports swirled that a successor to Nintendo Co.'s Switch is still more than a year away. 

Yesterday, Sony announced a major reduction in its PlayStation Studios' global workforce, including prized developers like Guerrilla Games.

Sony Interactive Entertainment is laying off around 900 workers, or 8% of the company, outgoing president and CEO Jim Ryan said in a news release published on Tuesday. Employees from all regions — North America; Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; Japan; and Asia-Pacific — are impacted by the cuts, including several PlayStation development studios. London Studio, the in-house team that created the SingStar series, will close entirely, Ryan said.

Sony has confirmed that it’s currently testing PlayStation VR2 compatibility with PC.

In September 2023, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan announced his departure. He will be succeeded by Sony’s current chief operating officer Hiroki Totoki, who Ryan expresses full confidence in. In an interview with Variety, he lists his favorite titles from each PlayStation generation for a little fun. Can’t say it’s a question that doesn’t pique my curiosity.

Sony president and PlayStation chairman Hiroki Totoki has said Bungie could be better at assuming responsibility for its development timelines.

Sony president and PlayStation chairman Hiroki Totoki was asked in a Q&A session following Sony's latest financial results briefing why the game division is seeing an increase in gross income but not profits and what the company could do to improve its bottom line. Totoki said that there are two key areas he wants to focus on in this regard: hardware and first-party games.

A new report calculates that Sony‘s value dropped by around $10 billion last week, following its revised PS5 sales forecast.

Japan's Sony Corporation slashed the full-year sales forecast for its PlayStation 5 video game console and said it plans to list its financial business next year as it focuses on entertainment and image sensors. Sony cut its PS5 sales forecast for the year ending March to 21 million units, from 25 million units previously, after weaker-than-expected sales over the year-end shopping season.

It bugs Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer that Arrowhead Game Studios and Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Helldivers 2 is not on Xbox. In a recent interview with Game File, Spencer stated that he’s “not exactly sure who it helps in the industry by not being on Xbox,” even though he understands that “there’s a legacy in console gaming that we’re going to benefit by shipping games and not putting them on other places.”

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is the first Capcom game priced $70, but it sounds like there’s more to come.

Xbox head Phil Spencer says he’d like to see Sony and Nintendo bring its games to Xbox, but that he isn’t holding his breath.

Treating the PlayStation 5 to a significant discount would be «very difficult» to do right now, a senior Sony official has said. That remark was attached to a wider explanation for why the PS5 hasn't gotten any more affordable since first hitting the market in 2020.

Players should expect to see more PC ports of first-party PlayStation titles, as Sony is promising an “aggressive” multiplatform strategy going forward. In recent years, Sony has been branching some of its biggest games out from the confines of its flagship console, with titles like Horizon: Zero Dawn and 2018’s God of War reaching PC after their PlayStation-exclusive debuts. 2023 was especially big for PlayStation PC ports, as Returnal, The Last of Us Part 1, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart all found their way onto PC platforms like Steam.

Despite total shipments topping 54.8 million since its launch in November 2020, the PlayStation 5 isn’t due for a big price cut anytime soon. Sony Interactive Entertainment president Hiroki Totoki said during an investor call (reported by IGN) that it was due to difficulties shrinking the PS5’s die size.

Sony shares recorded their biggest intraday fall since February 2022 after the company said that PS5 sales growth has likely peaked.

Recent years have seen Sony expanding its presence in the PC gaming space significantly, with the likes of God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Marvel’s Spider-Man having seen impressive success on the platform. Much more recently, Arrowhead Game Studios-developed co-op third-person shooter Helldivers 2 launched simultaneously on PS5 and PC, and has attracted a sizeable playerbase on the latter, even becoming Sony’s biggest launch on the platform to date.

During the latest episode of Giant Bomb's Game Mess Mornings, journalist and insider Jeff Grubb claimed that the new Astro Bot game might be released this year.

The current chairman of Sony has revealed that the company plans to "proactively" work on multiplatform releases as part of an "aggressive" growth plan.

Japan's Sony slashed the full-year sales forecast for its PlayStation 5 console on Wednesday and said it plans to list its financial business next year as it focuses on entertainment and image sensors.

Sony’s latest financial report saw the company revising expected PlayStation 5 sales downward for the coming year, with Sony Group President Hiroki Totoki saying that they “do not plan to release any new major existing franchise titles next fiscal year.”

Sony president and PlayStation chairman Hiroki Totoki has spoken of the opportunities available in its approach to releasing first-party games on PC, saying it's «proactively [working] on» bringing more titles to other platforms as part of an «aggressive» profit margin growth plan.

Unfortunately for PlayStation 5 gamers, Sony will not be releasing any major first-party games at the level of God of War Ragnarok orMarvel's Spider-Man 2 for this coming fiscal year. Sony has consistently delivered big budget, award-winning first-party exclusive games for its platforms, and they are a big reason why the company has enjoyed as much success as it has with the PS5 and its other systems over the years.

Sony Interactive Entertainment says that it has no plans to release any new games for major existing franchises before next year.

If you’ve been paying attention to the gaming world, you’ll know that a change seems to lurk in the shadows that’s slowly being brought into the light. Specifically, it appears that Xbox is about to announce a shocking change to their release strategy by going multiplatform with their exclusive titles. On this scale, such a thing would’ve been unheard of in past generations, yet they seem to be doing it, even announcing a “business update” tomorrow to highlight potential changes to their plans. The twist? It seems PlayStation will be jumping on this rocket, too, if their President’s latest words are anything to go by.

Sony president and PlayStation chairman Hiroki Totoki wants the company be “aggressive” when it comes to improving its gaming division’s profit margins, which he says can partly be achieved with a greater focus on bringing first-party games to PC.

Sony's new chairman has been in his role for four months now, and his early impression is that PlayStation's studios need to understand business a bit better.

The PS5 has entered the "latter half" of its life cycle, according to Sony, and a price cut looks unlikely.

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has confirmed that it expects PS5 hardware and software sales to decline this upcoming financial year.

Sony’s latest financial report saw the company revising expected PlayStation 5 sales downward for the coming year, with Sony Group President Hiroki Totoki saying that they “do not plan to release any new major existing franchise titles next fiscal year.”

Don't expect new games in any of PlayStation's biggest existing franchises before the end of this financial year, Sony has said.

Don't expect any new PS5 blockbusters any time soon, because Sony won't release any "major existing franchise titles" before April 1, 2025.

Sony Interactive Entertainment does not plan to release “any new major existing franchise titles next fiscal year,” which ends on March 31, 2025, the company said during its fiscal year 2023 Q3 earnings briefing.

According to Sony Group president Hiroki Totoki, there are no plans "to release any new major existing franchise titles next fiscal year." I.e., between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025.

The first half of the PS5’s life has seen Sony continuing to release major first-party exclusives with the same impressive momentum that defined much of the PS4’s life, but it looks like things have certainly slowed down. In 2023, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was the only major flagship first-party title to release for the PlayStation 5, and as some have expected, Sony has now confirmed that it won’t be releasing any games on that scale until the end of the next fiscal year (i.e. until at least April 1, 2025).

Naughty Dog have officially stopped development of The Last Of Us Online, a multiplayer game based on their celebrated McCarthyite (no, not that McCarthy - I mean the novelist) post-apocalyptic action-adventure. Announced in the dusty days of 2018 as a multiplayer mode for The Last Of Us: Part 2, it evolved into a standalone experience with new characters and a new setting, but Sony reportedly scaled the project back earlier this year. Naughty Dog have now formally called it quits, stating that supporting a live service project such as this would have “severely impacted” future single-player game projects. Sony never locked down platforms for The Last Of Us Online, but a PC release was surely on the cards, though I would have expected the game to launch first on PlayStation, as with the original Last Of Us and Uncharted 4.

Sony, who announced plans to create twelve new live service games by the end of its FY 2025, has now delayed half of them, according to the company's latest earnings call.

Sony's planned output of live-service games has hit a stumbling block, as six of those intended 12 titles have been pushed back. During its recent earnings call, president Hiroki Totoki explained the unannounced titles were being delayed due to quality concerns and ensuring they live up to PlayStation's first-party standards. 

Sony is reconsidering the live service plans it made earlier this year, while Gotham Knights' publisher says it wants to go all in. 

Sony is focusing on quality over quantity with its live-service gaming push.

Sony president Hiroki Totoki has said the company is reviewing PlayStation's live service game push amid development trouble that has already seen Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us multiplayer game hit with setbacks.

Sony Vice President, COO, and CFO Hiroki Totoki will be Sony Interactive Entertainment's interim CEO for a maximum of one year, and his tenure will be aimed at finding a replacement for the former retired head Jim Ryan as quickly as possible.

In its latest earnings announcement, which concerns the second quarter of the 2023 financial year, Sony has revealed some significant new insight into the current trajectory of PlayStation 5 hardware and software sales.

PlayStation has a lot of live-service games in development. Part of buying Bungie was even to utilise its expertise, which led to the less-than-favourable internal evaluation of The Last of Us' standalone Factions game. But it's not the only upcoming Sony multiplayer release to be pushed back, as half of its 12 titles have now been delayed.

Sony’s gaming division has reported a record second quarter in terms of revenue, as PlayStation 5 consoles reached 46.5 million shipped.

There’s a new rumor going around about what is going on behind the scenes at Sony.

Jim Ryan, PlayStation head and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, is leaving the company after an almost 30-year stint. In a press release, Sony confirmed that he will be retiring in March 2024, with COO Hiroki Totoki being appointed as the interim CEO of the company from April 1, 2024. Ryan merely served four years as CEO, having replaced John Kodera in 2019, and most notably oversaw the launch of the PS5, which has sold over 40 million units worldwide, as of July. It's unclear who will eventually be taking over as the new CEO, but for the time being, Totoki will assume the role of SIE chairman in October.

Sony has announced that PlayStation boss Jim Ryan will be retiring next March, capping off nearly 30 years with the company that saw him take the lead for the launch of Sony's current-gen offering, the PlayStation 5. 

Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan will retire in March 2024 after nearly 30 years with the PlayStation business, the company announced.

Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO and president Jim Ryan is retiring from his position leading the PlayStation business, Sony announced Wednesday. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier first reported the news Wednesday afternoon before Sony published its news release. Ryan will step down in March 2024 after 30 years at Sony and PlayStation.

By Emma Rothand Ash Parrish

Sony has announced PlayStation boss Jim Ryan will be retiring next March, after nearly 30 years with the company, having joined in 1994.

Sony has said that its recent PS5 price cut hasn’t yet led to the reaction it had hoped for in the UK.

PlayStation 5 sales continue to accelerate in the UK on the back of its new £399 price point.

Sony has released its financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2023, with its movie business driving income down, but PlayStation's good performance driving sales growth.