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Jim Ryan to Be Appointed President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Thread starter bluexy
- Start date
We got constant late ports and barely any attention before that and a lot was still seen as tier 2 even up to this gen by the others.
My head hurts alot how do you think Sony doing really well would benefit us as gamers?
FT article about new SIE CEO:
"In an interview with Financial Times last month, Mr Ryan identified the rising level of active monthly users as an increasingly important metric for producers of hardware and software, as the gaming business model changes and companies such as Sony become more adept at monetising individual titles beyond the original purchase of the game. "It makes a big difference if [players] connect and engage," said Mr Ryan.
https://www.ft.com/content/2e760280-2e79-11e9-8744-e7016697f225
"In an interview with Financial Times last month, Mr Ryan identified the rising level of active monthly users as an increasingly important metric for producers of hardware and software, as the gaming business model changes and companies such as Sony become more adept at monetising individual titles beyond the original purchase of the game. "It makes a big difference if [players] connect and engage," said Mr Ryan.
https://www.ft.com/content/2e760280-2e79-11e9-8744-e7016697f225
Euro-centric localization, day one distribution among other things...things that Nintendo and Microsoft are not doing?
If you truly believes that Europe loves Sony by default so much to the point that Sony can just place a dummy as its Europe head, then you probably need to stop playing games and start going to school.
What happened to all the working adults and college graduates in ERA? Why are so many kids in ERA today?
"This dude said something i don't like. This dude didn't give me the thing I want. This dude's an idiot and stupid."
What the hell with this type of '10 year old' thinking....
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The way it works in SIE is that the WWS division in general has relatively strong autonomy to decide and greenlight the projects they wanna make, and once a project is closer to fruition/announcement, that's where they then work with the sales and marketing division within SIE to figure out what's the best roadmap to announce and release the game eventually.
It's literally why there are games like Until Dawn, Gravity Rush 2, etc - where our primary complaints are "why aren't Sony marketing the games they made?" It's because while WWS made those games, the SIE sales and marketing division ain't necessarily ain't hot or excited about those games. If it were solely up to them, they would never have greenlit those games in the first place.
The one driving the portfolio of SIE first-party games today is Shawn Layden, and frankly his 'fewer, but bigger' approach will be well liked by many within the SIE marketing division, whom this gen has leaned towards significantly favoring marketing the tentpole AAA exclusives, and not giving the smaller games its deserving measure of support. ( remember when we had to demand a Gravity Rush 1 physical release in US? )
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Shuhei Yoshida is still in charge of that, he's the president of WWS.
Lol I am in the games industry since the 80s, I have a master degree in CS and and I am from EU, stop worshipping these people because some product did well. Often most of the work is done by lesser mortals.
I mean the sales & marketing team isn't wrong by not promoting gravity rush and until dawn. Both are very niche titles and the fact of the matter is gravity rush is a very mediocre game (don't get me wrong I like it and I think Kats a cool character) but saving money on promoting them was probably a wise move.
Actually, from what your explaining I think Sony's WWS needs a full reworking because right now you have a situation where games like dreams (a game that has been a waste of Sony resources and in my opinion is going to be a financial flop) and days gone (Isn't this too similar to Last of Us?) get approved but Psygnosis/Studio Liverpool a legendary dev gets fucking shut down when they working on an AAA espionage game + a new Wipeout that would have really showcased the hardware.
The WWE studio actually needs a steering committee to better select games that will appeal to the playstation audience and beyond (but not just follow fads and trends like EA, MS and Ubi do)
yes...obviously, but you need the someone at the top for planning from a macro-level perspective. Believe me, i am in the trenches as well and some of you guys are out of your head with the 'management is stupid, i am doing everything for them' type of mentality.
For example, let's say in the Eurozone, how do you go about the business tax? How do you go about the legal side of things? How do you proposed which games are appropriate for the region? Yes, each of the areas have a head (finance, legal, distribution, development, sales, marketing, etc). But who's gonna steer the overall strategy as a cohesive plan instead of some sort of 8 headed hydra where the marketing wants one thing and the finance wants another?
I am not 'idolizing' the C-level executive but the lack of objectivity in terms of workload from the people at the trenches is the reason why they will always work in the trenches. High level strategic planning is not equivalent to 'I'm real good at working with distributor for this region' or 'i'm really good at programming.'
Days Gone is nothing like TLOU .
Having zombies and being 3rd person does not = similar .
Also wipeout stop selling good years ago .
Showing off the hardware means nothing if the game don't sell and other devs can show off the hardware .
Seeing how Sony games are selling this gen i think they have a good idea what the PS audience wants .
Closing Psygnosis was a mistakes and I think Sony still regrets that but I don't agree with you about Dreams, it will be a masterpiece and with a good marketing it could sell well IMHO
I love reading ERA to learn how every administrative decision a company makes is completely wrong and will lead to its doom.
I can see Jim Ryan at E3 2020 showing off the PS5's enhanced backward-compatibility saying that the game on the screen (Bloodborne for example) is running at native 4K/2160p, 12-bit color, Dolby Vision, at 60fps, and then turns to the audience "WHY WOULD ANYONE PLAY THIS?" with a yelling at cloud look on his face, which is then followed by an audible gasp from the audience for 10 seconds, before then saying excitingly "BECAUSE IT IS FRACKING AWESOME!" and the audience cheers and claps.
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People really overreacting to what he said. anyway, hope he will do a fine job.Jim Ryan said:
Mhm while he is a real expert and has done a lot over the years, my reaction is not as positive as it propavly should be. Some of his comments just rubbed me the wrong way.
I wish him the best of luck though.
I wish him the best of luck though.
During his career overseeing Sony EU's work, like it or not, this guy has been involved in the cancellation of countless games (like any executive who stays in this industry for more than a week, deciding what games continue development and which ones get canned is a key part of these people's jobs, no matter the company). Since he was in Europe, he probably had a lot to do with the cancellation of The Getaway 3, just to mention one off the top of my head.
Damn,my ignore list just filled up after reading this thread,lol.
The guy has been at Playstation a long time and their performance in Europe has been fantastic in that time,no surprise he gets a position like this really.
The guy has been at Playstation a long time and their performance in Europe has been fantastic in that time,no surprise he gets a position like this really.
When a company is working in a creative industry, and they don't have people who is able to appreciate its legacy or how the innovations and achievements of the past contributed to the medium, this is a recipe for disaster.
Too much movements in Sony since 2017 are giving me really bad vibes, of they becoming the Microsoft of 2013.
From all the talented people managing the relationships with indie developers in the Vita and early PS4 years not working anymore in the company.
To Fumito Ueda abandoning Sony, or don't having the decency of using him as a consultant for the remake.
The legacy of Playstation are not only the recent triple A blockbusters selling million of copies.
It was a company about letting thousands of small and mid-sized developers explore their creativity.
And nowadays, a lot of important indie releases are skipping PS4, in favor of Switch and Xbox One.
Because the talented people curating this content, is no longer in the company.
They seem to be focusing only in the big blockbusters, like Microsoft at the start of this generation.
And this change of CEO is only a consequence of this new vision.
But to win the start of a new generation, they will also need diversity, creative takes, niche productions, talented people like Fumito Ueda, a dialogue with its past legacy through backwards compatibility and a vast portfolio of indie developers and mid-size studios to build a rich and varied library to complement the blockbusters.
And I'm really asking if Jim Ryan is the type of guy with a vision to realize this.
Or he only is one of these executives, looking at the spreadsheets, to the benefice, to the numbers.
Too much movements in Sony since 2017 are giving me really bad vibes, of they becoming the Microsoft of 2013.
From all the talented people managing the relationships with indie developers in the Vita and early PS4 years not working anymore in the company.
To Fumito Ueda abandoning Sony, or don't having the decency of using him as a consultant for the remake.
The legacy of Playstation are not only the recent triple A blockbusters selling million of copies.
It was a company about letting thousands of small and mid-sized developers explore their creativity.
And nowadays, a lot of important indie releases are skipping PS4, in favor of Switch and Xbox One.
Because the talented people curating this content, is no longer in the company.
They seem to be focusing only in the big blockbusters, like Microsoft at the start of this generation.
And this change of CEO is only a consequence of this new vision.
But to win the start of a new generation, they will also need diversity, creative takes, niche productions, talented people like Fumito Ueda, a dialogue with its past legacy through backwards compatibility and a vast portfolio of indie developers and mid-size studios to build a rich and varied library to complement the blockbusters.
And I'm really asking if Jim Ryan is the type of guy with a vision to realize this.
Or he only is one of these executives, looking at the spreadsheets, to the benefice, to the numbers.
Sounds good to me. If the domination of PlayStation in Europe is any indication he knows what he's doing. Also, he speaks his mind. While I don't agree with the backward compatibility thing, at least he shared his thoughts on the subject. That's so much better than most people in the business who speak marketing only.
I don't know what is allowed and what is not allowed these days.
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Shame Andrew House left. He was a decent speaker for Sony. Not a big Jim Ryan fan, so, ah well.
looking at some posts here, looks like its pretty easy for some to deny that. which is weird considering how much PS has grew in regions that SIEE takes care of.
Like he would know anything! Just look at what Jim said about cross-play, Playstation is doomed!
/s
You're right, but the reasons he became dominant was good for gamers here. If you rewind to pre-PS1 days, the other big international console companies were not taking Europe seriously. Sony had a big hand in changing that, and Ryan was a part of that effort.
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And 60Hz pal games... Oh wait, that was Nintendo with the Game Cube not Sony with PS2, my bad.
The guy is a Sony PlayStation OG. He has been with the company since 1994 (the year the PS1 released), much like Kaz Hirai, and has simultaneously seen it through some of the brands biggest accomplishments and growth, and to Europe being by far its strongest territory.
He's obviously a solid and fitting choice for the role, since he will understand the DNA of the brand and its workings, more than most within the company. Again, this is a sign that the people making the decisions are back to appreciating the legacy of the brand. Like with Hirai's appointment, they've not hired some random outsider or person new to the brand, they've picked one of the most successful execs within the company who have been there from the early days.
He's obviously a solid and fitting choice for the role, since he will understand the DNA of the brand and its workings, more than most within the company. Again, this is a sign that the people making the decisions are back to appreciating the legacy of the brand. Like with Hirai's appointment, they've not hired some random outsider or person new to the brand, they've picked one of the most successful execs within the company who have been there from the early days.
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Hush now. Clearly he is a poor choice. Doesn't matter what he did. He said a dumb thing about crossplay, the one and only solid metric by which a gaming company can achieve success, once.
#BringBackKaz
/s just in case
Everyone needs to post thier pointless shittake without engaging in any sort of discussion. The fact there is this much salt in this thread about the guy means he is doing something right.
All the while PS in Europe and around the world is getting stronger and stronger.
I mean under his leadership, even in the face of renewed competition, ps has done incredibly well in Europe. He has the chops to get Sony ps even stronger. He certainly gets sales, marketing and business. Despite what a forum poster might think, those 3 are critical to succeed for a business like ps.
Just goes to show how out of touch majority of era posters are.
I think what people don't understand is that Sony since PS1 brought diversity on their portfolio of games for all around the world.
Microsoft always tried to succed with U.S. centric games most of them shooters.
In the end videogames is not about features and services but about games. Era try to refute that is really funny.
Yeah that's exactly how it works when u sit on a high role chair.....a word can change everything ...look at penello an the famous 30%
Ryan had some weird interview saying basically bs