‘It’s time to move on’: PlayStation veteran Shuhei Yoshida is leaving after 31 years

Veteran Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida has announced he will be leaving the company in January, after 31 years at PlayStation.

Sharing the news on the PlayStation blog, Yoshida said that with the brand celebrating its 30th anniversary, he feels it’s the right time to move on.

“I’m leaving Sony Interactive Entertainment on January 15 2025… it’s like announcing the launch date of a new game, [something] I haven’t done for a long time,” he said.

“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. You know, the company’s been doing great. 

“I love PS5, I love the games that are coming out on this platform. And we have new generations of management who I respect and admire. And I’m so excited for the future of PlayStation. So you know, PlayStation is in really good hands. I thought, okay, this is my time.”

Yoshida joined the PlayStation project in 1993, a year before the release of the original console. He went on to become the president of Sony Computer Entertainment, now known as Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SIE).

Yoshida currently serves as head of SIE’s Independent Developer Initiative, where his role has been to look after and nurture external, smaller independent studios.

Asked what his favorite memory from his time at PlayStation was, Yoshida said Thagamecompany’s Journey was a highlight.

“One time stood out for me in my memory as something really, really special was when Journey got the Game of the Year Award,” he explained. “Journey was distributed through PlayStation Network. It was a digital-only, small game. You can finish playing the game within like three hours.

“But that game…[won] Game of the Year against all these AAA titles, I think for the first time in the industry….the creator Jenova Chen did a talk at the summit, and he talked about a letter he received from a girl who lost her father and she thought about her father and she was able to move on in her life.

“The whole audience stood up and the whole room was filled with happiness and an amazing feeling that this small game could have such a big impact on people’s lives.”