Shuhei Yoshida Was Allegedly Forced Out of PlayStation Studios Job by Jim Ryan

Popular former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida has claimed that he was forced to step down from his PlayStation Studios role by then CEO Jim Ryan. Yoshida, who recently resigned from Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) after more than three decades of service, was president of Worldwide Studios until 2019. The division was rebranded as PlayStation Studios in 2020.

Yoshida says he had ‘no choice’ but to step down as PlayStation Studios boss

When Yoshida announced that he was stepping down as president of Worldwide Studios after 11 years, and taking on the role of PlayStation Indies boss, many suspected that he had been demoted. In a new interview with VentureBeat, Yoshida confirmed that this was indeed the case.

“Moving from first-party to indies? Well, I had no choice,” Yoshida admitted. “When Jim asked me to do the indie job, the choice was to do that or leave the company.” He was subsequently replaced by Hermen Hulst.

Following Ryan’s departure from Sony, Hulst was named co-CEO of PlayStation along with Hideaki Nishino. However, last month, Sony announced that Hulst will no longer be co-CEO, and will now report to Nishino, who has been elevated to the role of SIE CEO and president.

Yoshida’s confirmation of what many have long suspected has understandably left some fans upset. Although PlayStation is stronger than it has ever been, the PS5 generation has arguably been weak in terms of first-party output.

It certainly doesn’t help that PlayStation’s massive live service failures and continued push towards unnecessary remasters have been associated with Ryan’s and Hulst’s leadership.

The post Shuhei Yoshida Was Allegedly Forced Out of PlayStation Studios Job by Jim Ryan appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.