Sony’s head of independent development at PlayStation and long-time game development leader for the console maker, Shuhei Yoshida, is leaving the company after over three decades. He helped produce some of the PlayStation’s earliest hits before moving onto help lead the platform’s powerhouse first-party studios across multiple console generations.
“Yes, I have an announcement to make,” the Sony veteran said during an interview with the PlayStation Blog on Tuesday. “I’m leaving Sony Interactive Entertainment on January 15 2025…it’s like announcing the launch date of a new game, [something] I haven’t done for a long time [laughs].” The industry veteran said that while he’ll no longer be at Sony he still plans to work in games in some capacity moving forward.
During the interview, Yoshida recounted what it was like in the earliest days of the PS1 era and what it was like trying to convince publishers and studios to take a chance on making games for Sony’s first console. While he was executive producer on early games like Crash Bandicoot: Warped and The Legend of Dragoon, he later moved into leadership role across the business group, eventually becoming president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide studios.
He told the PlayStation podcast that Journey’s release in 2012 on PS3 as a download-only indie hit that went on to win Game of the Year was a career highlight. “But that game…[won] Game of the Year against all these AAA titles, I think for the first time in the industry….the creator Jenova Chen did a talk at the summit, and he talked about a letter he received from a girl who lost her father and she thought about her father and she was able to move on in her life,” Yoshida said. “The whole audience stood up and the whole room was filled with happiness and an amazing feeling that this small game could have such a big impact on people’s lives.”
The executive was also well know for his own development experience and design sense. In one pivotal moment during the documentary about the making of 2018’s God of War, Yoshida’s harsh criticism of an in-development build of the game becomes a make-or-break moment for the now-acclaimed reboot. He eventually stepped down from being the head of Worldwide studios in 2019, at which point then-Guerrilla Games studio head Hermen Hulst stepped into the role amid a reshuffling of PlayStation leadership. Hulst is now co-CEO of PlayStation alongside Hideaki Nishino.
Yoshida’s announcement marks the second major departure from PlayStation in under a year, after previous Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan retired last spring. It will also leave the console maker without one of its most high-profile execs and visible faces in the community, with a long track record of popularity among fans. He’s perhaps best known for his part in the infamous 22-second E3 2013 clip demonstrating how games are shared on the PS4, a stunt that kicked off Sony’s current high-end console dominance.
“I’ve been with PlayStation from the beginning, and this is my 31st year with PlayStation,” he said. “And when I hit 30 years, I was thinking, hmm, it may be about time for me to move on. You know, the company’s been doing great. I love PS5, I love the games that are coming out on this platform. And we have new generations of management who I respect and admire. And I’m so excited for the future of PlayStation. So you know, PlayStation is in really good hands. I thought, okay, this is my time.”
Yoshida’s announcement comes on the eve of PlayStation’s 30th anniversary on December 3. In addition to the release of a retro line of PS5 consoles and accessories to celebrate, fans are also wondering if Sony might be teasing additional reveals or even a mini-showcase before the year is out.
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