Sony Group CFO & COO Hiroki Totoki Is PlayStation’s CEO, Starting Today
Hiroki Totoki officially takes control of PlayStation as their interim CEO, starting today, April 1, 2024.
As we had reported last September, Hiroki’s official entry date was decided at the same time that PlayStation’s last head, Jim Ryan, announced plans to retire.
Going back to the official press release from Sony, this is what they said about Totoki’s new role in the division:
“Effective April 1, 2024, Mr. Totoki will be appointed Interim CEO of SIE while he continues his current role at Sony Group Corporation. Mr. Totoki will work closely with Sony Group Corporation Chairman and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida and the management team of SIE to help define the next chapter of PlayStation’s future, including the succession of the SIE CEO role.”
When the press frequently refer to Totoki as interim CEO, it comes from this press release. Sony make it clear that they do not plan to have Totoki run PlayStation at the same time he takes on other senior positions in the company moving forward. But Sony’s messaging suggests that Totoki was put in this position so that he would review Sony’s PlayStation business, with the intention of making changes in its direction.
Sony has seen decades of success with their PlayStation division, but like any other video game company, they have also seen their peaks and valleys in the business. Gamers may hyperfixate on the PlayStation vs. Xbox competition, but for Sony higher-ups like Totoki, it’s a bigger concern that PlayStation spent a lot of money on licensing Spider-man from Disney to make big budget games, but products like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 are not selling at a significant enough attach rate to make the money spent worldwide.
It would have been easier months ago to accuse Totoki of planning to cut the PlayStation division down. Rumors have long simmered that because of its extended success, PlayStation received preferential treatment within Sony, particularly to how much money they spent. As the CFO, Totoki looked like the exact person
Read more on gameranx.com
