The Industry Reacts to Jim Ryan Retiring as PlayStation CEO

Phil Spencer and other industry people have been reacting to the news that Jim Ryan is stepping down as CEO of PlayStation and retiring. This will take place next March, but as we look forward, let's also discuss his accomplishments at the company. Phil Spencer reacts to Jim Ryan retiring also so let's get right into it.

Previously: Jim Ryan is Stepping Down as CEO of PlayStation Jim Ryan is stepping down next March. In a press release titled New Management Structure of Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation head Jim Ryan announced his departure and plans to retire in the Spring of 2024. Hiroki Totoki will likely be replacing Jim Ryan as the current PlayStation CEO. The PlayStation Boss Jim Ryan is retiring as CEO of PlayStation and will be leaving the company. This is massive PlayStation news today that will likely have an impact on the next several years for the company. The PlayStation CEO cited the location of the job as one reason, but not much else. Jim Ryan retirement comes with what seems like a restructuring and we will see if someone longer-term replaces him.

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[smoksho]

Some of the industry thanks Jim Ryan for making it ok to significantly raise prices on products and aervices without adding any value. The fact he raised prices on PS plus and left was his last middle finger to us the consumer

[novathepug]

high revenues doesnt mean ps fans should like this dude. he raised prices in every aspect - the consoles, the subs, and the games. most of the good games that came from playstation were far or mid development when he took over, then a content drought. he also made playstation look ridiculous on an international stage with the activision acq and neglected sony's japanese audience.

[t.yop]

Jim Ryan wasn't running Sony for 30 years. He was running SIE for 4 years.

[t.yop]

It's highly unlikely he's 'retiring'.

1. No obvious succession plan
2. Proximity to ABK merger loss (it's clear he bet on being able to keep Xbox from acquiring major franchises and keeping the ABK deal blocked was a big part of that)
3. Lackluster fan and media reception to recent lack of news on a 1st party software roadmap. It seems the focus on live service games over Ryan's tenure has not yet paid off and Playstation is wading into a period of uncertainty.
4. "Travel" as a reason - he doesn't have young kids, why would he need to live in the UK? Interestingly, he didn't cite 'family'. If he takes on another role as an executive in Europe, then you'd know the reasons were false, as there's few executive roles out there that requires no travel.

You can't understate how big the Xbox acquisition of ABK is. Sony has bet big on exclusivity and keeping Xbox as a second tier destination for 3rd party games. This is the primary reason for Playstation's success over the last 4-5 years. Sony put itself in this situation where an ABK acquisition completely changes the landscape and their trajectory going forward. I think Jim Ryan hung on to his position because he was able to convince the Sony board that they were still on the right track with the exclusivity route and Xbox wouldn't be able to recover from it. With the ABK deal the board saw the writing on the wall and Ryan's being ousted as Sony re-calibrates its strategy.

In some ways Ryan was right. The focus on exclusivity and squeezing Xbox out has mostly worked, it's the reason why Playstation has dominated this generation. It was getting harder and harder for Xbox to compete for exclusives and marketing rights. Case in point, Activision threatening to keep CoD off of Xbox and the much more favorable marketing terms for Playstation. Xbox had to pivot almost completely to Gamepass because the traditional model was not tenable. And had Playstation been able to hold on for a couple of more years Xbox might have abandoned ship.

This is why Phil Spencer is the biggest winner in all of this. Him being able to convince Satya Nadella to make this last ditch effort to invest heavy into gaming is ultimately what changes things for Xbox and the entire gaming landscape. Once Microsoft went down this route, Sony's exclusivity play was doomed to fail. Xbox is now here to stay and Playstation is going to be facing a lot of uncertainty going forward until they can find a new winning strategy.

[matthewhardwick]

It certainly helps when your CEO actually likes video games. So whenever they show up at gaming shows you can see the excitement in their eyes and not force smiling like Jim Ryan clearly was.

[bizarduno]

To put it lightly, Destin, he was the most disliked PlayStation CEO by the fans.

[glennhkboy]

This is highly unusual. If this is a planned retirement, Sony should have hired/ chosen Jim's successor by now. So the fact that Sony Group CFO, who has no experience in Sony's creative business, step in as a intern-CEO, this suggest that the decision was made in a hurry (my guess maybe within a week?). Sony (or their investor) may have finally decided that enough is enough.

[ratedtriplex]

The Activision/Blizzard acquisition was a career vs career match between Spencer and Ryan.

[kuda]

I like how Jim leaving showed what PlayStation fans really thought. Hiding behind exclusives didn’t help 😂

[daviddamasceno]

Jim became CEO when PlayStation was an already established success. Yes, good things happened during his administration but how many of those things can be directly linked to him? Phil Spencer was activelly, and agressively, working to put Xbox on the map again, and I never got the impression Jim Ryan was doing the same. If anything, as a player, I feel things just got worse on Playstation with him in command.

[NCR_trooper-]

Better Late than Never.
Congratulations Sony fans

[Coloradocrumble]

Between all of the incredible games coming out this year, the Xbox leak, PlayStation having a rough year for showcases and losing Jim Ryan, Stadia shutting down, the BG3 developer backlash, and countless other massively popular news stories, it’s been one of the most memorable years in gaming history. And frankly, I could use a breather, and I’m sure Destin would agree, although I’m sure it’s been fantastic for the growth of his awesome channel.

[kah]

Destin...appreciate your content and I look forward to your videos...but I do not agree that Jim Ryan did much good for PS...he rode the success of the PS4 (and failure of the Xbox One)...I am very much scratching my head as to what good Jim Ryan actually did for PS...other than just keep them going. Interested to hear your thoughts. Keep up the good work.

[SamMontoya]

I'd say most of Sony's success came from Ryan's predecessor. Ryan took over what was already in flight. The primary thing Ryan did was start making the shift over to live service games. Whether he was behind the eight ball or not remains to be seen.

[DARKZONE-ulmx]

Difference in jim and Phil is jim was given the key to the kingdom and Phil was given the Titanic and was told to fix it well it is Sinking

[isturbo]

You don't think the players hated Jim Ryan? Read the room, journo. Or instead, read the top comments in your own youtube videos on the subject? Gamers hate him because he wanted to squeeze every dime out of us, while being only loyal to the company. That's great for the company. But otherwise, people don't care. Especially inn the recession.

[automator]

I would argue we won't know what his legacy will be for several years. Most of the games(exclusives) released recently were put into play before his time as CEO. The live services future that he pushed forward is still unknown, and its effects on the overall Playstation community and ecosystem is unknown. What we do know is that he had a legacy of raising prices, and nickel and diming his community for upgrades. The next 5-7 years will be interesting for Playstation and I would not be surprised if the changes he made go on to effect the community negatively for years to come.

[mitchjames]

He is the main reason is why I haven’t bought a PS5, if who ever replaces him does a better job understanding gamers than I would buy one.

[mysterio]

This guy has been surfing the wave Tretton, Yoshida, Shawn, House and Boyes created on PS3's third leg, which basically saved the brand.

He's a very successful operations guy but not a product one. Just tell me one franchise created under his administration.

Those guys I mentioned are responsible for the great games and how awesome the PS4 was.

[rsawyer]

Jim only ran SIE for 4 yes, not 30. Not enough time to introduce any major projects and bring them to release. All he did was bring some already in development projects to market and make some questionable decisions like a massive commitment to GaaS when those types of games are failing all around him and is using Bungie (after purchase), who has a rapidly declining (if still massive) game with horrible monetization practices, as their guiding light in that space. Oh and he made PS look like fools during the ABK merger talks, raised the standard price of games, and increase PS+ prices by 30% while adding no value and raking in record profits. Pure greed. He's definitely soured my view on PS as a brand and while I know most consumers don't pay attention to any of this, I'm not sure how he hasn't done the same to those who do.

I'm a customer, not a fanboy, I'm not cheering on the CEO of a company I like for milking me for as much money as possible and I don't see that Jim Ryan has done anything good for any of his customers in his tenure as the big boss.