Former PlayStation Exec Reveals He Was Fired After Three Decades at the Company

PlayStation veteran Shuhei Yoshida recently revealed during a presentation that he was fired from his role as President due to disagreements with Jim Ryan. After leaving PlayStation last year with 31 years of work to speak for, Yoshida is opening up about his complicated time with the company.

Yoshida originally joined Sony back in 1986 to work in the company’s PC division, and he would eventually be one of the original employees to take on the PlayStation’s creation. This kickstarted a career as a producer on classic PlayStation games like Gran Turismo, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, and Ape Escape. From 2008 to 2019, Yoshida was the Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios President, but he stepped down to head PlayStation Indies until retiring in 2025. According to him, though, stepping down as the SIE Worldwide Studios President was not up to him.

Shuhei Yoshida Says Ex-CEO Jim Ryan Forced Him to Leave His Position as President

During a speech at the ALT: GAMES festival in Australia, Yoshida revealed that the reason he stepped away from his position as President and transitioned to PlayStation Indies is because Jim Ryan didn’t really give him a choice. Over the years, Yoshida hasn’t shied away from making it clear that stepping away wasn’t his decision, but his statements at ALT: GAMES have been some of the most candid that he’s made about the situation. Jim Ryan left Sony in 2024, but Yoshida says the main reason the two butted heads is because, “I didn’t listen to him.”

Yoshida says that Ryan gave him the decision to either leave or take on the PlayStation Indies project. Despite allegedly being forced out of his President role, Yoshida reassured listeners that he thoroughly enjoyed his time working with this division of Sony. According to those present during his presentation, Yoshida was in good spirits about the whole thing. When it came to specifics, Yoshida said that Ryan asked him “to do some ridiculous things.” He wasn’t really clear about what these requests were, but it’s possible that it revolved around how some new PlayStation games are being handled.

Jim Ryan Was a Big Fan of the Live-Service Model

In recent years, Sony has made it clear that the company is interested in live-service projects. This hasn’t always gone according to plan, though. Games like Helldivers 2 and Marathon have been successful takes on the live-service model, but failures like Concord have shown how these plans have been hit or miss. Sony is still committed to its single-player narrative games, but expanding further into live-service territory was something that Jim Ryan was invested in.

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Many of the live-service PlayStation games that were in development under Ryan’s leadership have since been canceled. The Last of Us Online, a live-service God of War spin-off, and a Twisted Metal project have been among these cancellations. It’s hard to say if Yoshida was referring to the company’s live-service push when he mentioned Ryan’s “ridiculous” requests, but it’s possible. Yoshida spoke fondly of his time overseeing games like God of War, Uncharted, The Last of Us, and Ghost of Tsushima. The PlayStation veteran may no longer be with the company, but his leadership helped some of the biggest exclusives become successes.

Brand: Sony
Original Release Date: November 12, 2020
Original MSRP (USD): $499, €499, £449, ¥49,980 (Base) // $399, €399, £359, ¥39,980 (Digital),
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