• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

PlayStation Insider is "Very Nervous" About PS5 and the Current State of Sony.

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


Layden's departure is just one internal executive shakeup at Sony Interactive Entertainment. SIE Japan-Asia president and SIE Japan director Atsushi Morita has departed his roles effective immediately, according to a tweet from the Wall Street Journal’s Takashi Mochizuki. SIE CFO Kazuhiko Takeda will take over as president of SIEJA, although a replacement has yet to be announced for Morita’s role as director of SIEJ. It’s worth noting that, as pointed out by Mochizuki, Morita was at the age (60) where the Japanese workforce tends to retire anyway.

Layden’s exit comes at a time of transitional upheaval, and not just with the next-gen PlayStation 5 looming. There's also the possibility of an internal power struggle, which appears to stem from a corporate restructure back in April 2018, which is when Sony Interactive Entertainment truly went global.

At that time, Sony announced a reshuffle that saw then-PlayStation president John Kodera take control of the Americas and Japan/Asia. Deputy president Jim Ryan assumed responsibility for Europe. Additionally, all sales and marketing divisions within America, Europe, and Japan-Asia were to report to Ryan. Meanwhile, Layden was to “concentrate his focus on WWS continuing to provide platform-defining content that helps drive the growth of SIE.” WWS is regarded as a side project, albeit a significant one, within the bigger picture of SIE management. Ryan and Kodera run the bulk of the operation, with Layden's position as chairman created specifically with him in mind.

The biggest issue in merging SIEA, SIEE, and SIEJA is the cavernous difference in product marketplaces. Marketing a product in the North/South American markets is vastly different than doing so in Europe. And neither aligns with how sales work in Japan and Asia.. Suddenly, three teams were working on the same thing without much clarity in reporting structure. This has created chaos, as SIE adjusted to a global mindset. Additionally, Sony reorganization typically impacts senior vice president level and higher, with lower level employees facing a “rolling restructure” as higher-ups figure things out how to manage shifting teams on the fly.

As the perceived power struggle between Ryan and Layden comes to a head,, it’s starting to affect the upcoming next-gen transition. An employee at a major third-party publisher with direct knowledge of the situation has told GameDaily the confusion resulting from the global reorganization has made the switch, already difficult as is, even more concerning.

Speaking under the condition of anonymity, GameDaily's source relayed what their company is facing.

"This is the least amount of clarity we've ever had on a new console this close to transition,” the source said. “I believe that the [global restructuring] is exponentially exacerbating the already difficult process of transitioning to a new generation. And now we’re getting nervous. Read: very nervous."

The third-party nervousness around the PS5's imminent launch isn't directly attributable to either leader, but there has been a fair amount of internal secrecy so that data and information isn't leaked before launch. Internal teams are slow to receive word about the new console, which means that third-party developers and publishers are being kept in the dark far more than in past cycles.

There are certainly more questions as to what to expect under Ryan’s leadership now that Layden is gone, including Ryan's philosophy for the PlayStation 5’s expected 2020 launch, in addition to his approach to Worldwide Studios.
 
Last edited:

KungFucius

King Snowflake
These types of internal reorgs are common in large companies. In my experience they have never really impacted much because the core staff do the real work. I am not in the consumer electronics sector so I guess it could be different at Sony.
 

Nickolaidas

Banned
These types of internal reorgs are common in large companies. In my experience they have never really impacted much because the core staff do the real work. I am not in the consumer electronics sector so I guess it could be different at Sony.
The staff does the work, but the management decides how and where the ship will sail. If Sony's top brass say that they want all exclusives to have microtransactions and have 400 items as 3$ dlc, the staff must oblige.
 
These types of internal reorgs are common in large companies. In my experience they have never really impacted much because the core staff do the real work. I am not in the consumer electronics sector so I guess it could be different at Sony.
Well, there is a type of managers that sees every interaction the client has with the product (whatever the product is) as a chance of upselling something to them, be it a screen protector for their gorilla glass phone, or a horse armor in a video game. In interactive entertainment this can be particularly egregious.

So if someone like this ends up running the Sony studios and they tell Niel Drukmann that Ellie will find a working slot machine to buy random equipment at every street corner in TLoU 2, and that instead of finding parts to craft equipment, she will find tokens to play the machine all over the world - but never enough, so you will be able to buy them with real money - also, make the game so you never die as it takes people out of the loop where they keep buying those tokens, well she will do just that (I would not be surprised it Niel left over this kind of thing).

So it will save me tons of money as I won't have a need to ever get a new console (I consider MS is already running their studios like that).
 
Can't see Sony having the launch as flawless as the PS4 especially if Third Parties are wary of censorship policies.

If that is the case, then I could see either MS gearing up to court third parties for Scarlett or Nintendo loosen their cartridge licensing to offer third parties a platform without censorship at the cost of power.

The PS5 will do well of course but some of their more recent changes could decide if they go back to PS3 levels of support and mistakes early on.
 
Last edited:

NXGamer

Member
These types of internal reorgs are common in large companies. In my experience they have never really impacted much because the core staff do the real work. I am not in the consumer electronics sector so I guess it could be different at Sony.
Business do not work like this AT ALL. It is the other way around and any changes of management and structure like this Will affect that, just that it is an unknown as to how much.

Something has changed, likely not as short term as it looks, but this is just the normal "shop floor" whispers where teams convince themselves their feeling or thoughts are in some way representative of the truth.
 
Last edited:

ghairat

Member
Lol "insider". Hey, I'm an insider and I have some info to share. Maybe I should contact a user here in NeoGAF so that they can share my story.
 

Birdo

Banned
New hardware releases are nervous times for any tech company.

As MS proved last gen, anything can happen. You can go from being number 1 to number 2 with just one tiny mistake.
 

Yoboman

Member
Well, there is a type of managers that sees every interaction the client has with the product (whatever the product is) as a chance of upselling something to them, be it a screen protector for their gorilla glass phone, or a horse armor in a video game. In interactive entertainment this can be particularly egregious.

So if someone like this ends up running the Sony studios and they tell Niel Drukmann that Ellie will find a working slot machine to buy random equipment at every street corner in TLoU 2, and that instead of finding parts to craft equipment, she will find tokens to play the machine all over the world - but never enough, so you will be able to buy them with real money - also, make the game so you never die as it takes people out of the loop where they keep buying those tokens, well she will do just that (I would not be surprised it Niel left over this kind of thing).

So it will save me tons of money as I won't have a need to ever get a new console (I consider MS is already running their studios like that).
Yeah but what if Sony leadership decided to stop making video games and start making pachinko slot machines. Niel Duckman would definitely not like that

giphy.gif
 

xool

Member
We already had this trash via gamedaily.biz on 1 Oct 2019


Please don't start new threads for clickbait trash reposting old info

Old thread died for a reason

 
Welp, that's what happens when you move your base to California :messenger_confounded:

At that time, Sony announced a reshuffle that saw then-PlayStation president John Kodera take control of the Americas and Japan/Asia. Deputy president Jim Ryan assumed responsibility for Europe. Additionally, all sales and marketing divisions within America, Europe, and Japan-Asia were to report to Ryan. Meanwhile, Layden was to “concentrate his focus on WWS continuing to provide platform-defining content that helps drive the growth of SIE.” WWS is regarded as a side project, albeit a significant one, within the bigger picture of SIE management. Ryan and Kodera run the bulk of the operation, with Layden's position as chairman created specifically with him in mind.

The biggest issue in merging SIEA, SIEE, and SIEJA is the cavernous difference in product marketplaces. Marketing a product in the North/South American markets is vastly different than doing so in Europe. And neither aligns with how sales work in Japan and Asia.. Suddenly, three teams were working on the same thing without much clarity in reporting structure. This has created chaos, as SIE adjusted to a global mindset. Additionally, Sony reorganization typically impacts senior vice president level and higher, with lower level employees facing a “rolling restructure” as higher-ups figure things out how to manage shifting teams on the fly.

Sounds like Sony's PS division's having its own mid-90s SEGA moment (all that SOJ/SOA fuckery behind-the-scenes)
 
Last edited:

yurinka

Member
Morita and Shawn were 60 and 58 years old, they just retired due to age.

To merge marketing divisions from Japan, USA and Europe make sense because it's what all others companies do, it's super dumb that as publisher or developer you have to address them as if they were totally separate companies with different requirements. It's something they should have done decades ago.

Restructuring corporations is something normal that happens from time to time.

There is no conspiracy here, folks.
 

Vawn

Banned
Agreed. They will fuck up so badly. This will be even worse than the „get a second job“-ps3 Desaster

The 5th greatest selling home console ever released disaster (behind only the Wii and four other PlayStations)?
 
Last edited:

ANIMAL1975

Member


Layden's departure is just one internal executive shakeup at Sony Interactive Entertainment. SIE Japan-Asia president and SIE Japan director Atsushi Morita has departed his roles effective immediately, according to a tweet from the Wall Street Journal’s Takashi Mochizuki. SIE CFO Kazuhiko Takeda will take over as president of SIEJA, although a replacement has yet to be announced for Morita’s role as director of SIEJ. It’s worth noting that, as pointed out by Mochizuki, Morita was at the age (60) where the Japanese workforce tends to retire anyway.

Layden’s exit comes at a time of transitional upheaval, and not just with the next-gen PlayStation 5 looming. There's also the possibility of an internal power struggle, which appears to stem from a corporate restructure back in April 2018, which is when Sony Interactive Entertainment truly went global.

At that time, Sony announced a reshuffle that saw then-PlayStation president John Kodera take control of the Americas and Japan/Asia. Deputy president Jim Ryan assumed responsibility for Europe. Additionally, all sales and marketing divisions within America, Europe, and Japan-Asia were to report to Ryan. Meanwhile, Layden was to “concentrate his focus on WWS continuing to provide platform-defining content that helps drive the growth of SIE.” WWS is regarded as a side project, albeit a significant one, within the bigger picture of SIE management. Ryan and Kodera run the bulk of the operation, with Layden's position as chairman created specifically with him in mind.

The biggest issue in merging SIEA, SIEE, and SIEJA is the cavernous difference in product marketplaces. Marketing a product in the North/South American markets is vastly different than doing so in Europe. And neither aligns with how sales work in Japan and Asia.. Suddenly, three teams were working on the same thing without much clarity in reporting structure. This has created chaos, as SIE adjusted to a global mindset. Additionally, Sony reorganization typically impacts senior vice president level and higher, with lower level employees facing a “rolling restructure” as higher-ups figure things out how to manage shifting teams on the fly.

As the perceived power struggle between Ryan and Layden comes to a head,, it’s starting to affect the upcoming next-gen transition. An employee at a major third-party publisher with direct knowledge of the situation has told GameDaily the confusion resulting from the global reorganization has made the switch, already difficult as is, even more concerning.

Speaking under the condition of anonymity, GameDaily's source relayed what their company is facing.

"This is the least amount of clarity we've ever had on a new console this close to transition,” the source said. “I believe that the [global restructuring] is exponentially exacerbating the already difficult process of transitioning to a new generation. And now we’re getting nervous. Read: very nervous."

The third-party nervousness around the PS5's imminent launch isn't directly attributable to either leader, but there has been a fair amount of internal secrecy so that data and information isn't leaked before launch. Internal teams are slow to receive word about the new console, which means that third-party developers and publishers are being kept in the dark far more than in past cycles.

There are certainly more questions as to what to expect under Ryan’s leadership now that Layden is gone, including Ryan's philosophy for the PlayStation 5’s expected 2020 launch, in addition to his approach to Worldwide Studios.

What's going on at Sony!? Can someone get there asap, Jesus!

 

Alebrije

Member
Shawn worked for 30 years for Sony......he is 58 years old and pretty sure with a great sum of money. I would do the same at that age and $$ conditions becuase basically your ar living the best days of your last days.
 
Last edited:

demigod

Member
Good yes but not great like Atari2600, SNES, NeoGeo or MegaDrive. PS2 and PS4 I would class as great consoles but PS3 not so much.

Atari2600, I'm not that old to own one. NeoGeo, I'm not rich to own one at the time. In my grade, I only knew of one kid that owned it.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom