Sony Interactive Entertainment president Andrew House has stepped down from his current role and will be replaced by deputy president John Kodera. Effective immediately, Kodera will function as the president and chief executive officer of the company. House will still remain at SIE till the end of the year but will eventually transition into a director/chairman role.
Andrew House issued a statement on his departure from the role of president, stating that, “I’m tremendously proud of what we’ve built with PlayStation and Sony Interactive Entertainment: entertaining millions globally with the best in games and creating a fully fledged digital entertainment company.
“PlayStation has been a huge part of my life for more than 20 years but with the business having achieved record-breaking success, now seemed to be the right time for me to pursue new challenges. I shall always treasure the friendships and people that have made SIE such a wonderful place to work. I’m also grateful to PlayStation fans and gamers around the world for their loyalty and support. John and the team at SIE are world-class and I know the future of PlayStation is very bright.”
House has been working with Sony for quite a long time, first joining the company in the corporate communications department in 1990 before moving to the marketing and communications team for SCE in 1995. He would become president in 2011 and essentially oversaw the launch of the PlayStation 4 and other devices since then including PlayStation VR and the PS4 Pro.
Former president Kaz Hirai, who still works as Sony global CEO, also issued a statement on House stepping down from his current role. He said that he was “extremely grateful to Andy for the great contribution he has made to evolving the PlayStation business, and firmly positioning it as one of the drivers of our future growth.”