Een Nederlander gaat voortaan de leiding nemen van de first party studios van Sony Interactive Entertainment. Hermen Hulst de oprichter van Guerrilla Games (Killzone-serie en Horizon Zero Dawn), wordt per direct de hoofd van Sony Worldwide Studios. Deze bevat momenteel 14 studio’s verspreid over de hele wereld waaronder Naughty Dog, Guerrilla Games. Insomniac Games en Santa Monica Studio.
Hermen neemt deze rol over van Shuhei Yoshida, die niet vertrekt bij Sony maar een nieuwe rol krijgt. Yoshida gaat namelijk betere banden creëren met indiestudio’s. De afgelopen jaar zaten verschillende indiestudio’s te klagen over de banden met Sony. Met Yoshida aan het roer moeten indiestudio’s zich weer thuis voelen bij Sony PlayStation. Yoshida gaat indiestudio’s voorzien van alle tools, services en technologie die ze nodig hebben, zodat ze unieke games kunnen maken voor PlayStation.
PlayStation CEO en president Jim Ryan heeft het volgende te zeggen over de nieuwe rollen van Hermen Hulst en Shuhei Yoshida:
Hermen is one of the most effective and well-respected leaders in the video game industry. He is a passionate advocate for the teams he leads and understands how to empower creative talent to build great experiences. Worldwide Studios is a critical part of the future success of the company, and we must deliver on the promise we have made to gamers to create imaginative and exciting content that is truly unique to PlayStation. I have no doubt Hermen can lead our teams to deliver compelling and diverse experiences at a steady cadence.
Shuhei Yoshida will leave his current position as president of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios to become head of a newly formed initiative that will focus on nurturing external independent creators. Yoshida will report directly to Jim Ryan while ensuring external developers have the tools, technology, and services they need to reach PlayStation’s community of users.
I am thrilled to announce Shu Yoshida as head of this new initiative. Everybody knows just how passionate Shu is about independent games—they are lifeblood of the industry, making our content portfolio so special for our gamers. These wildly creative experiences deserve focus and a champion like Shu at PlayStation who will ensure the entire SIE organization works together to better engage with independent developers through a culture of supporting and celebrating their contributions to PlayStation platforms.
Hermen Hulst zelf heeft ook een woordje gedaan:
I have worked closely with PlayStation and the entire Worldwide Studios family since 2001, and I have the utmost respect and admiration for the creative talent and ambitious ideas within the network of studios across the U.S., Europe, and Japan. I am beyond excited to have the opportunity now to lead such an inspired and talented team whose singular mission is to build amazing games for PlayStation fans.
