Sony has a crucial decision to make after Jim Ryan's retirement | Opinion

gamesindustry.biz:

Jim Ryan's retirement from PlayStation was not entirely unexpected.

Through various interviews in recent years, he's spoken about the challenges of living in the UK and working in the US. He's also coming up to five years in the role of CEO, which is around the point Sony likes to start moving its leadership on.

Choosing his successor, however, is going to be quite the challenge.

Ryan may not quite have the PR sparkle of Andrew House, or the gamer credentials of Phil Spencer, but he is a PlayStation man through and through. He was there at the beginning, setting up PlayStation's European offices – going as far as popping to IKEA to buy office furniture. And talk to him about games, and he'll reminisce about obscure PS1 titles (Jumping Flash, anyone?) and his love for Ratchet & Clank. He has also been there at the launch of every major PlayStation release from the last 30 years. He knows the brand better than just about anyone.

People internally, at least the ones I have spoken to, were clearly very fond of him. He was 'uncle Jim' to some in the UK office. Andrew House once described him as PlayStation's secret weapon, and he was called a 'hero' by former PlayStation exec Shahid Ahmed in a keynote talk back in April.

"The industry is changing and Ryan leaves PlayStation as the business is looking to react to this change"

So the question for Sony's leadership is do you find someone new to take the PlayStation business forward? Or continue that legacy of promoting internally, and ensuring you have someone in place who instinctively understands the brand and what makes it popular?

It's not an especially easy thing to answer. The industry is changing rapidly in terms of how games are monetised and distributed. Ryan