PlayStation's Jim Ryan replacement is two CEOs as company splits retired boss' role

Following the retirement of former CEO Jim Ryan, Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced that a pair of Playstation execs will serve as his replacements going forwards. As of June 1, Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino will step up into new roles that'll fill the departed exec's boots.

If you're out of the loop, Ryan stepped down from his CEO position at the end of March, not long after PlayStation laid off 900 people and closed London Studio as part of those cutbacks - though the exec had already revealed he'd be departing his post back in September last year. The occasion of Ryan's retirement was celebrated via a collectable digital bobblehead of him you could grab through the PlayStation Stars program, in case you were wondering.

Now, as announced via an SIE press release, Nishino and Hulst have been officially revealed as his replacements, with the former stepping up into the role of CEO of SIE’s Platform Business Group, while the latter becomes CEO of SIE’s Studio Business Group. So, that's Nishino in charge of things like hardware, PSN and Playstation's third-party relationships, while Hulst will be in charge of PlayStation’s first-party dev teams and helping organise TV and Film adaptations of the console maker's games.

"I am thrilled to lead the studio business group and continue to build on our success with PlayStation 5, while preparing for the future,” said Hulst, who's currently the head of PlayStation Studios. “The video game industry is one of the largest entertainment industries in the world and has been built on the marriage of content and technology, and I look forward to continuing to push the boundaries of play and entertainment.”

Nishino, who's currently PlayStation's SVP of Platform Experiences, said: “We will continue to connect players and creators through world-class products, services, and technology. We always strive to grow our community even bigger with innovation in every area at Sony Interactive Entertainment. I am honoured to be appointed such an important role alongside Hermen. By working more closely together, we will be positioned to build incredible experiences for an ever-expanding audience now and in the future.”

Meanwhile, Sony president Hiroki Totoki - who's been serving as interim CEO at SIE following Ryan's retirement annumcement last year - will now become its chairman, working "closely" with the pair of new CEOs in addition to keeping on plugging away at his existing duties for the wider Sony corporation. He added that Hulst and Nishino: "will have clear responsibilities and will manage strategic direction to ensure the focus remains on deepening engagement with existing PlayStation users and expanding experiences to new audiences."

So, there you go, a two-for-one deal to properly replace Ryan going forwards, and (we assume) double the digital bobbleheads whenever PlayStation finds itself in need of CEOs again.