After almost 250 days since the retirement announcement of SIE CEO Jim Ryan, Sony has officially appointed Herman Hulst and Hideaki Nishino as the new CEOs.
Hulst will head Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Studio Business Group, while Nishino will take charge of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Platform Business Group, starting June 1st.
While it may seem promising to once again see a Japanese individual ascending to a leadership role within Sony Interactive Entertainment, these appointments unfortunately fail to instill confidence in the future of the PlayStation brand.
Hiroki Totoki, presently the interim CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, will additionally take on the role of chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment while continuing his positions as president, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer of Sony Group Corporation.
Meanwhile, Hermen Hulst appears to be transitioning from his role as head of PlayStation Studios. Interestingly, Hulst previously served as managing director and co-founder of Guerrilla Games, the developers behind titles such as “Horizon Zero Dawn” and “Forbidden West.”
I’m confident there won’t be any conflict of interest with Hermen Hulst, I’m sure he wouldn’t sporadically spearhead approval for various “Horizon” projects in the future, including game sequels, spin-offs, and potentially TV adaptations. That would be silly.
Undoubtedly, the Sony PlayStation brand has experienced a decline in recent times, largely attributed to the high price point of the PlayStation 5 console. Sony itself has indicated that the console is approaching the latter stages of its lifespan.
Other factors contributing to the underperformance of the latest system include limited availability at launch and a lack of notable exclusives despite being on the market for several years.
The PlayStation brand has seen a decline since the shift away from Japanese leadership, starting with Andrew House’s tenure as CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2011.
During his time in charge, Andrew played a pivotal role in the development and launch of the PlayStation 4 console, which became one of the best-selling systems globally.
However, this shift comes with a caveat. Towards the latter stages of the PlayStation 4’s lifecycle, Sony Interactive Entertainment made sporadic attempts to appeal to the elusive “modern audience” with its system.
Between Andrew House’s departure and Jim Ryan’s appointment, Sony intermittently altered its game curation process for the platform.
From 2018 onwards, there was a noticeable shift as they began pressuring Japanese developers to censor their games, particularly those featuring “anime” fanservice.
Curiously, as a parting gesture, Andrew House initiated the relocation of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s headquarters from Japan to San Mateo, California, a move that, for clarity, is in the United States.
To illustrate, the Japanese company started appointing Western CEOs, who led the relocation of SIE’s main headquarters from Japan to California, known for its liberal and progressive values.
Subsequently, Sony imposed stringent censorship requirements on Japanese game developers, resulting in modified game releases on the PlayStation 4. To exacerbate the situation, Sony demanded that Japanese developers communicate with them exclusively in English.
Sony’s actions have been seen as a betrayal of their own country, prioritizing globalization and catering to Western interests over serving gamers. They have taken a strong stance against “problematic” games featuring “scandalous” depictions of women, many of which originate from Japan.
However, it is notable that Sony actively funds and promotes games on its platform containing nudity and excessive gore without censorship. Examples of such titles include The Last of Us Part 2 and Life is Strange, which feature sex scenes involving “underaged” characters, and Baldur’s Gate 3, which includes progressive same-sex scenes and full frontal nudity.
Their censorship policies have been firmly enforced for years now, and recent events suggest that Sony is intensifying its efforts to control consumers. This is evident in incidents like the day one censorship patch for Stellar Blade and Sony’s demand for censorship of the artbook for Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon on its system.
Furthermore, Sony’s attempt to enforce a mandatory PlayStation Network account requirement for PC players with the release of Helldivers 2 failed miserably. In a move to solidify their grip on PC players and enforce their own policy standards upon them, they removed the game from sale in over 177 countries.
This same strategy applies to their upcoming release of Ghost of Tsushima, despite it being a single-player title that doesn’t necessarily require an account to play.
Sony are effectively appointing two individuals to split the responsibilities as head of Sony Interactive Entertainment, one of whom is Japanese and the other was the co-founder of a Sony first party developmental studio, again, no conflict of interest there I assure you. Sony’s tyranny upon the PC ecosystem is just beginning as their asanine censorship policies have ultimately pissed off consumers for the better part of six years at this point, effectively handing Nintendo free marketshare with their Switch system, because their puny little handheld seemingly has almost no censorship polcies as opposed to Sony and Microsoft.
Sony’s recent corporate messaging focuses heavily on platform growth and momentum, yet the appointment of a Japanese co-CEO does little to instill confidence among genuine gamers. At present, Sony appears to be merely a mouthpiece for BlackRock’s ESG agenda.
Content promoting heterosexuality or featuring attractive women is swiftly censored, while material sexualizing men or catering to queer audiences is deemed acceptable, even when it ventures into bestiality.
Sony Interactive Entertainment remains headquartered in California, with no immediate plans for relocation. However, if Sony were truly committed to regaining their enthusiastic Japanese player base, especially considering the failure of their limited “exclusives” in their native country, they could begin by transitioning SIE back to a Japanese subsidiary and abolishing their censorship policies.
Sony’s reputation has suffered due to these actions, and the PlayStation 5 is struggling to meet sales expectations. Any future hardware revisions or new console releases are likely to face similar challenges.
In contrast, the Nintendo Switch boasts a diverse range of exclusive titles that cannot be found elsewhere, and those that can be found on other platforms are free from arbitrary censorship.
PlayStation’s only real hope rests on Nishino, who will oversee relations with third-party publishers and developers. It’s crucial for the survival of the PlayStation brand to repair its ties with Asian developers and abandon censorship.
Sony’s first-party games are solely developed by Western studios, targeting Western audiences. What has historically kept PlayStation relevant, even during tough times, is the steady stream of third-party Japanese games that support the system domestically.
I, however, hold little faith that anything will change. Sony will likely persist in censoring games that defy the established “narrative” while promoting what they consider wholesome queer content. I refuse to support this company and will only reconsider if they reverse their policy changes and relocate back to Japan, showing genuine efforts to reconnect with their core audience.
