Jim Ryan is stepping down as the head of PlayStation

Sony Interactive Entertainment boss Jim Ryan is set to retire in March next year, after nearly 30 years at Sony and four in his current role.

Jim Ryan, the head of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), is stepping down. The news was first broken by Bloomberg, and later confirmed in a press release from Sony.

SIE is the Sony subsidiary that manages the PlayStation brand, and it has its main headquarters in San Mateo, California. Jim Ryan has cited the difficulty of commuting over to America from Europe as part of the reason why he has chosen to retire from Sony.

“I’ve relished the opportunity to have a job I love in a very special company, working with great people and incredible partners,” Ryan said in a statement. “But I’ve found it increasingly difficult to reconcile living in Europe and working in North America. I will leave having been privileged to work on products that have touched millions of lives across the world; PlayStation will always be part of my life, and I feel more optimistic than ever about the future of SIE. I want to thank [Kenichiro] Yoshida-san for placing so much trust in me and being an incredibly sensitive and supportive leader.”

Jim Ryan joined SIE’s European arm back in 1994, when it was known as Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Since then, he has worked his way up through the ranks until achieving the top job at PlayStation in 2019, when he stepped up to become president and CEO of SIE.

Ryan is set to retire in March 2024, at which point Hiroki Totoki, the current Sony Group Corporation President, COO and CFO, will take on the role as an interim position in addition to his existing responsibilities. In the meantime, the hunt will be on for a successor.

Jim Ryan is certainly leaving on a high, with the PlayStation 5 fairly flying off shelves as it closely tracks the success of the PlayStation 4, and Sony chief executive Kenichiro Yoshida gave him a glowing review: “Jim Ryan has been an inspirational leader throughout his entire period with us, but never more so than in overseeing the launch of PlayStation 5 in the midst of the global COVID pandemic. That extraordinary achievement made by the entire SIE team has been steadily built on and PlayStation 5 is on track to become SIE’s most successful console yet. I’m immensely grateful to Jim for all his achievements.”