SIE Appoints New CEOs, Herman Hulst & Hideaki Nishino

Unlike its Microsoft-based counterpart and head of Xbox, Sony’s SIE CEO role hasn’t had the same cult of personality surrounding it. Be it Kutaragi, Hirai, House, Kodera, and eventually, Jim Ryan, who hardly got his feet under the table. None have the profile of Phil Spencer, who gets all the praise when it goes right, and more recently, all the anger when select Bethesda studios are closed. Announced yesterday as the business day seemed to begin in Japan, the new Sony Interactive Entertainment CEOs have been announced. Yes, CEOs, plural. Ryan announced last year he’d leave by March – his replacements being Hideaki Nishino and Hermen Hulst.

Hulst was appointed Head of PlayStation Studios in November of 2019, a position he’s held since following an almost 9-year stint as VP of SIE/World Wide Studios. He was also a major part of Guerrilla Games as managing director for the studio during those early Killzone days, leaving in 2019 for his previous position. During his time as Head of PlayStation Studios, Hulst oversaw the company’s release of Dreams, The Last of Us: Part II, Ghost of Tsushima (releasing on PC this week), Demon’s Souls for PS5, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Gran Turismo 7, and God of War: Ragnarök.

Hideaki Nishino’s history is a little less video game-focused, appointed a producer for Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications between 2001 and 2003. Nishino would move on to Sony Computer Entertainment as a manager from 2006 to 2009, becoming a director, then senior director at Sony Network Entertainment International from 2009 to 2011. Most recently Nishino was appointed Senior VP for Global product strategy and management (I’m awake, I promise!) in 2016. All of this makes sense for the roles Hulst and Nishino will take on as joint CEOs for Sony Interactive Entertainment starting June 1st.

According to the press release yesterday: Hulst will be appointed CEO of SIE’s Studio Business Group, focused on the game development, publishing, and the business of first-party titles, this includes adaptations of first-party titles similar to that of The Last of Us. Nishino will be appointed CEO of SEI’s Platform Business Group, focused on “technology, products, services, and platform experience;” third-party relations, commercial business, sales and marketing of hardware, peripherals, and other services. One focuses on the software, and the other focuses on the hardware, simple as.

Acting CEO following Jim Ryan’s departure, Hiroki Totoki, will serve as chairman of SIE alongside his roles as president, COO, and CFO of Sony Group Corporation. Totoki said of the appointment of Hulst and Nishino, “Sony Interactive Entertainment is a dynamic and growing business that delivers incredible entertainment experiences through the connection of content and technology. These two leaders 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.”

“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,” Nishino noted in his statement. He says of his co-CEO and appointment, “I am honored 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.”

Hulst also commented, “I am thrilled to lead the studio business group and continue to build on our success with PlayStation 5, while preparing for the future.” Ending with, “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.“

The option to choose two CEOs in place of the company’s history of one says something of Sony’s growing plans to expand not only into the PC market with ports, but through its development of TV and film adaptations too. This is alongside a recent push into the live-service market which Sony made clear back in 2022 when it acquired Destiny developer Bungie, which Hulst has been a Member of the Board of Directors for since July of 2022. Yet in the last several months we’ve also seen studio closures and canceled games in that time.

It will be interesting to see how this change affects the business of Sony/PlayStation as a whole, but also how Herman Hulst and Hideaki Nishino adapt to the roles.