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Games industry legend Shuhei Yoshida will officially leave Sony Interactive Entertainment on January 15th, 2025, prompting nostalgic well wishes from colleagues and contemporaries.
Yoshida spent over 30 years with Sony, joining Ken Kutanagi’s team in February 1993 as an account management lead. In an interview with PlayStation Podcast, excerpts from which were published on the PlayStation Blog, Yoshida said he was the “first non-technical person” to join the team.
Sony Computer Entertainment was born in November of that year, and in the interview, Yoshida spoke of the team’s excitement over innovations such as CD-ROM and 3D graphics, as well as the challenges the unknown team faced in being taken seriously.
As an account management lead, Yoshida was responsible for reaching out to Japanese developers and publishers, bringing them to Sony in hopes they would make games for the original PlayStation console.
Digital-Only Journey Wins 2012 Game of the Year Award
Yoshida later became president of PlayStation Studios during the PS3 and PS4 era, from 2008 to 2019.
In the interview, he spoke of his team’s multiple nominations for the Game of the Year during his time in game development. He also touched on a favorite memory. The digital-only release Journey, a small but unique game distributed through PlayStation Network, won the Game of the Year award in 2012. Jenova Chen, the game’s creator, gave a talk at the summit as the game won out against a slew of AAA titles.
Yoshida Lands Dream Job as Head of Indies Initiative
While managing PlayStation Studios, Yoshida frequently attended major gaming events like Gamescom and E3, and always took time to visit the indie game area, where he’d snap photos with developers to help promote their games.
This hobby later became his career when, in 2019, he took on his dream job as Head of Indies Initiative at Sony Interactive, giving him the opportunity to indulge his love for indie games.
Yoshida called the period following the indie boom of 2000, when digital distribution began, “an amazing opportunity for the industry to try new ideas,” saying discovering indie gems for PlayStation was “like treasure hunting.”
In 2023, Yoshida was awarded the BAFTA Games Fellowship for contributions to the industry.
Congrats on an amazing career at PlayStation. You've always been a great advocate for the industry, for creators and for players. I've appreciated the time we've been able to spend talking gaming. Thank You @yosp.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) November 27, 2024
The news of Yoshida’s departure was met with well wishes from video games industry veterans including Xbox chief Phil Spencer, who congratulated Yoshida for his amazing career at PlayStation in a post on X.
Sad to see you leave Shu, you’ll be missed! Thank you for your support and kindness. Wishing you all the best on your next dream job! 💙
— Mathijs de Jonge (@dejongemathijs) November 27, 2024
Some, like Mathijs de Jonge of Guerilla Games, expressed their sadness at Yoshida’s plans to leave Sony.
On his reasons for leaving, Yoshida had this to say: “I’ve been with PlayStation from the beginning, and this is my 31st year with PlayStation. And when I hit 30 years, I was thinking, hmm, it may be about time for me to move on.” He expressed his love for PS5 and its games, and his excitement for the future of PlayStation, saying that he felt confident the brand was in “really good hands.”
