Sony Interactive Entertainment have a new Head of World Wide Studios
Sony Interactive
Entertainment (SIE), the company responsible for the PlayStation brand and
family of products, has today announced the promotion of Guerrilla’s Hermen
Hulst to Head of Worldwide Studios (WWS) effective immediately. In this role,
Hulst will manage and lead all game development across the 14 studios that form
Worldwide Studios. The company also announced that Shuhei Yoshida will leave
his current position as President, WWS, to become head of a newly formed
initiative that will focus on nurturing external independent creators.
“Hermen is one of
the most effective and well-respected leaders in the video game industry. He is
a passionate advocate for the teams he leads and understands how to empower
creative talent to build great experiences,” said Jim Ryan, President and CEO
of Sony Interactive Entertainment. “Worldwide Studios is a critical part of the
future success of the company, and we must deliver on the promise we have made
to gamers to create imaginative and exciting content that is truly unique to
PlayStation. I have no doubt Hermen can lead our teams to deliver compelling
and diverse experiences at a steady cadence.”
Hulst co-founded
Amsterdam-based Guerrilla, and most recently served as Managing Director. The
studio is best known for the Killzone franchise, which debuted
on PlayStation 2 in 2004, and the acclaimed Horizon Zero Dawn,
which launched in 2017 on PS4. Under Hulst’s leadership, Guerrilla has
continued to innovate and developed Decima, a proprietary game engine launched
in 2013 and used for the production of a range of titles, including the
upcoming Death Stranding by Kojima Productions. Sony Computer
Entertainment acquired Guerilla in 2005. Angie Smets, Jan-Bart van Beek and
Michiel van der Leeuw will take over Hulst’s duties at Guerrilla as joint
studio heads.
“I have worked
closely with PlayStation and the entire Worldwide Studios family since 2001,
and I have the utmost respect and admiration for the creative talent and
ambitious ideas within the network of studios across the US, Europe, and
Japan,” said Hulst, Head of Worldwide Studios. “I am beyond excited to have the
opportunity now to lead such an inspired and talented team whose singular
mission is to build amazing games for PlayStation fans.”
Today, SIE also
announced a new company initiative led by PlayStation veteran Shuhei Yoshida
and focused on celebrating external developers that are creating new and
unexpected experiences for the gaming community. Reporting directly to Jim
Ryan, Yoshida will leave his role at WWS to concentrate on our diverse
community of independent developers, ensuring they have the tools, technology,
and services to reach PlayStation’s large community of gamers successfully.
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