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PlayStation has a new worldwide boss effective immediately. Andrew House is out as president and chief executive of Sony Interactive Entertainment after six years, Sony Corporation announced today.
A statement from Sony headquarters said House will be replaced by John Kodera, presently Sony Interactive Entertainment’s deputy president. House will remain on as a director and the chairman of SIE “through the year to ensure a smooth transition,” the statement said.
The statement did not give a reason for the abrupt change. The Wall Street Journal reported, according to a corporate spokeswoman, that House plans to spend more time with his family before starting a new career in the entertainment industry.
House has been with Sony since 1990 and, after moving from corporate communications into marketing for what was then called Sony Computer Entertainment, he was involved in the launch of the first PlayStation. He took over as president and chief executive of SCE (SIE since 2016) in 2011, replacing Kazuo Hirai, who is now the president and chief executive of all of Sony.
The statement from Sony touted strong PlayStation 4 sales under House’s leadership and a PlayStation Network subscriber base of 70 million. It also noted the launches of PlayStation Vue and PlayStation VR under his term. “He has grown the Game and Network Services segment into one of the key profit drivers for the Sony Group,” the statement said.
“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,” House said in Sony’s statement. “John and the team at SIE are world-class and I know the future of PlayStation is very bright.”
Kodera joined Sony’s portable audio business (Walkman, Discman and the like) in 1992. In 2010 he became senior vice president within the newly established Sony Network Entertainment International, then in 2013 was promoted to its president. SNEI merged in 2016 with Sony Computer Entertainment to create Sony Interactive Entertainment, with Kodera second in command.
Sony’s statement noted Kodera’s involvement in launching recurring revenue services such as PlayStation Vue, PlayStation Video, and PlayStation Music, which is partnered with Spotify.
“I intend to build on the amazing progress Andy has made enhancing the PlayStation brand and expanding the game and network services business,” Kodera said in Sony’s statement, “and will strive to further strengthen the unique value proposition we are able to offer via the PlayStation platform.”
Correction: This article previously referenced PS4 sales of 78 million units under Andrew House’s tenure as CEO of PlayStation. However, that figure actually refers to Sony’s forecast for global PS4 shipments by the end of its 2017 fiscal year, which isn’t coming until March 31, 2018. We’ve edited the article to reflect this.
