31 years at Sony, 11 years leading the studios — and a resignation demanded by a leader he never wanted to listen to.
Speaking at the Australian gaming festival ALT: GAMES, Shuhei Yoshida publicly and directly named the reason for his departure from the position of head of PlayStation's internal studios in 2019: according to him, Jim Ryan — then head of PlayStation — pushed for his removal because the manager refused to follow his orders. "I was removed from that position. Jim wanted me to do something else because I wasn't listening to him. He asked me to do something absurd, and I refused," Yoshida said amid laughter from the audience, clearly enjoying his own frankness. It is noteworthy that already at the beginning of 2025, in an interview with VentureBeat, he talked about having no choice in that situation: either accept the new direction or leave Sony completely.
"I Didn't Listen to Jim Ryan": Shuhei Yoshida Openly Reveals for the First Time How He Lost His Position as Head of PlayStation Studios
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31 years at Sony, 11 years leading the studios — and a resignation demanded by a leader he never wanted to listen to.