Veteran Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida announced that he will leave the company in January, after 31 years at PlayStation.
Sharing the news on the PlayStation Blog, Yoshida said that as the brand celebrates its 30th anniversary, he feels it’s the right time to move forward.
“I am leaving Sony Interactive Entertainment on January 15, 2025… it is like announcing the release date of a new game, [something] “I haven’t done it in a long time,” he said.
“I’ve been with PlayStation since the beginning and this is my 31st year with PlayStation. And when I turned 30, I thought, hmm, maybe it’s time to move on. You know, the company has done very well.
“I love PS5, I love the games that are coming out on this platform. And we have new generations of managers whom I respect and admire. And I’m very excited for the future of PlayStation. You know, PlayStation is in very good hands. I thought, okay, this is my moment.”
Yoshida joined the PlayStation project in 1993, a year before the launch of the original console. He then became president of Sony Computer Entertainment, now known as Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SIE).
Yoshida currently serves as director of SIE’s Independent Developer Initiative, where his role has been to nurture and foster smaller external independent studios.
When asked what his favorite memory was from his time at PlayStation, Yoshida said that the Thagamecompany journey was a highlight.
“One time that stood out in my memory as something really special was when Journey won game of the Year,” he explained. “Journey was distributed through the PlayStation Network. It was a small digital-only game. You can finish playing in about three hours.
“But that game…[won] game of the year against all these AAA titles, I think for the first time in the industry… creator Jenova Chen gave a talk at the summit and talked about a letter she received from a girl who lost her father and thought about her father and was able to move on with his life.
“The entire audience was on their feet and the entire room was filled with happiness and an incredible feeling that this little game could have such a big impact on people’s lives.”
