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[Pimpbaa]

Bring back Japan Studio!

 

[yogaflame]

Not expecting to much, but it seems, hopefully, we will have a great state of play show this February because of this shake up.

 

[Moriarty1889]

If there is any truth to the quote on the internet says that Herman Hulst thought Concord "was the next Star Wars-like event" or something like that...then yeah, that guy needs to be shown out the door and barred from ever working in the gaming industry. The ugly ass character designs and the forced DEI'ness in it killed whatever interest gamers may have had towards it.

It also shows his beliefs that forced DEI shite was something he felt was good for games. He should be removed immediately and back at Guerilla Games forced to work on a new Killzone. Horizon needs to be put out to pasture.

 

[mitch1971]

Next step. Leaving LA.

 

[viveks86]

But he's technically still a CEO, though? Just not THE CEO, but neither is Nishino until April.
In fact, looking at it this way, Hulst has to report to Totoki, who in turn reports to Yoshida, the current CEO of SGC. Now, Hulst will report to Nishino, who in turn will report to Totoki, the future CEO of SGC.
Totoki was a chairman of SIE for a while, and it was clear to he was running the show during that time while he was figuring out what to do with the company.

I don’t disagree. But you need to look at it in context of timing and how things go in corporate culture, even more so Japanese corporate culture. Such announcements never happen unless they are preparing investors for the real change. Given the string of failures, it’s only natural that they want Hulst to go. This is phase 1. We can’t predict when it is going to happen, but I think it will eventually happen. They will boil this frog

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Glad to see Hulst still there.

You're kidding right?

 

[nial]

his beliefs that forced DEI shite was something he felt was good for games

[citation needed]

Such announcements never happen unless they are preparing investors for the real change.

Would you mind explaining this bit? Announcing these corporate changes is pretty normal to do so, especially in this context that you're seeing THE top change at Sony Group above everything else.

 

[Loomy]

I don’t disagree. But you need to look at it in context of timing and how things go in corporate culture, even more so Japanese corporate culture. Such announcements never happen unless they are preparing investors for the real change. Given the string of failures, it’s only natural that they want Hulst to go. This is phase 1. We can’t predict when it is going to happen, but I think it will eventually happen. They will boil this frog

I’m not a Hulst hater, but i feel confident in saying investors won’t give two shits if he’s replaced. Stock will probably not even be affected.

Also, Totoki doesn’t strike me as the waste time type of person. If he wanted Hulst gone, he’d be gone already.

 

[nial]

You're kidding right?

No, I'm not.

 

[Loomy]

[citation needed]

Would you mind explaining this bit? Announcing these corporate changes is pretty normal to do so, especially in this context that you're seeing THE top change at Sony Group above everything else.

Yeah people are reading too much into this. CEO is retiring and they’re stretching everyone below him upwards into new roles. Hulst just happens to be at the bottom of the slinky, so his role is not changing.

 

[HogIsland]

Hulst is the only one of the three who knows anything about making a game.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

ok, so..... showcase when?

 

[ArtHands]

Happy to see Hiroki Totoki getting promoted over his successful strategy of going multi-platforms. With his new position, we should see an even more aggressive push towards that strategy

 

[Fake]

Just need to fire Hermen and will have a proper happy ending.

 

[bitbydeath]

Doesn't seem like much is changing here. At least not the type of change I want. Essentially the two ceo thing wasn't working out but it was never a two ceo thing, Nishino always looked like Hulst's watchdog lol.

If the two ceo thing wasn’t working out, then that would mean there were reasons it wasn’t working out, and Nishino now gets whatever that say was over Hulst.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

If the two ceo thing wasn’t working out, then that would mean there were reasons it wasn’t working out, and Nishino now gets whatever that say was over Hulst.

I think the reason it wasn’t working out is that the top CEO didn’t want to constantly be bugged with decisions from two different CEOs, so he just delegates them now to one for the PlayStation business, leaving him less involved in the minutiae

 

[BaneIsPain]

Make single game player great again. (Stop wasting time and money chasing fidelity too much)

 

[Kacho]

Happy to see Hiroki Totoki getting promoted over his successful strategy of going multi-platforms. With his new position, we should see an even more aggressive push towards that strategy

So what are we thinking here?

- Faster PC ports, eventually leading to day 1 releases
- Switch 2 ports

Not much else makes sense for their margins.

Does Totoki let Saint Hulst greenlight and nurture additional live service games? Maybe get more aggressive in the mobile space in addition to Horizon movies and TV shows?

 

[ProtoByte]

They gotta be getting rid of Hulst, please, PLEASE.

 

[ProtoByte]

Happy to see Hiroki Totoki getting promoted over his successful strategy of going multi-platforms. With his new position, we should see an even more aggressive push towards that strategy

Nope, Nishino is the console focused guy. With any luck, he will be the Trump of PlayStation Nation. Deporting PC and multiplatformism ASAP!

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

There is no demotion whatsoever. Co-CEO thing was clearly a transitional period and Hulst was never into hardware and bigger business operations for President post, it was Nishino’s job from the start. For Hulst it’s basically nothing, he is still the head of content. For Nishino this is a promotion sideways, newly created President post is here to narrow down the responsibility to a single person. People are making this more of a fuss than it’s really is.

Yes Hulst still runs content but for greenlighting/approval of certain things he has to go through Nishino now, whereas before he'd just go through Totoki.

If Totoki then went through to Yoshida, then I guess in that way things are basically the same (in terms of hierarchy). Almost. Nishino still moved up; Hulst is where he was before. So you can view it as a relative demotion if you want.

But he's technically still a CEO, though? Just not THE CEO, but neither is Nishino until April.
In fact, looking at it this way, Hulst has to report to Totoki, who in turn reports to Yoshida, the current CEO of SGC. Now, Hulst will report to Nishino, who in turn will report to Totoki, the future CEO of SGC.
Totoki was a chairman of SIE for a while, and it was clear to he was running the show during that time while he was figuring out what to do with the company.

I agree that the co-CEO stuff was always temporary. Tho I did think such a change would've been closer to end of FY or start of the next FY.

EDIT: Well seems like the changes go in effect April 1st, which is the start of the new FY. Guess I should've said, I expected news on this to be maybe later in February or March.

Yup. People are acting like it was demotion or promotion, but in fact it’s a simple flattering of a management structure and nobody took anyone’s job.

Where's Yoshida?

Genuinely asking. Has he been promoted, staying in same position, or departing?

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

No, I'm not.

He destroy Playstation

 

[EDMIX]

lol damn, some of you can't read.

Its like folks are trying force a narrative or story out of this.

 

[bitbydeath]

So what are we thinking here?

- Faster PC ports, eventually leading to day 1 releases
- Switch 2 ports

Not much else makes sense for their margins.

Does Totoki let Saint Hulst greenlight and nurture additional live service games? Maybe get more aggressive in the mobile space in addition to Horizon movies and TV shows?

Check the date, guy was just trolling.

 

[ProtoByte]

I’m not a Hulst hater, but i feel confident in saying investors won’t give two shits if he’s replaced. Stock will probably not even be affected.

Also, Totoki doesn’t strike me as the waste time type of person. If he wanted Hulst gone, he’d be gone already.

I think he's going to let Nishino be the guy to oust him. Hulst is already going to be unhappy about being demoted.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Sweet

 

[hemo memo]

So basically, Hermen controls the studios, and Nishino gets the final word for SIE.

This takes effect April 1st, by the way.

 

[Hypereides]

Going from co-CEO in a role to reporting to someone in that role is literally a demotion.

This. Don't get fazed. The usual suspects will vehemently deny it.

 

[yogaflame]

It is a breath of fresh air. Just three things for me as a start: more single player exclusives especially from Japan ( RPG
exclusives please revive this titles, Dark cloud, ninokuni, legend of dragoon, legend of legaia, alundra, wildarms, this will help there sales in Japan market), end to woke infested DEI initiative, and stop porting exclusives to other platforms even to PC.

 

[Kacho]

Check the date, guy was just trolling.

I doubt much has changed

 

[bitbydeath]

I doubt much has changed

That would also mean no increase of how it currently is.

 

[Kacho]

That would also mean no increase of how it currently is.

For now. Now that leadership is sorted we’ll see what happens over the next couple of years. I’m very curious to see how they respond if Fairgames and Marathon underperform or flop.

 

[nial]

I agree that the co-CEO stuff was always temporary. Tho I did think such a change would've been closer to end of FY or start of the next FY.

Well, we're at the end of the FY ending March 31, 2025. But it takes effect at the very beginning of the FY ending March 31, 2026.

He destroy Playstation

Too hyperbolic.

I think he's going to let Nishino be the guy to oust him. Hulst is already going to be unhappy about being demoted.

C'mon guys, you're saying stuff like this over *nothing*. What his Hulst going to do, risk his job? He already had to report to top leadership at SIE before (Hiroki Totoki), and if you're out there throwing around claims that he's going to be bitter about this, well, you KINDA need to personally know the guy first.

 

[Salz01]

Hulst needs to go. Hasn’t delivered this gen. Jim and him just suck.

 

[Hookshot]

Trouble in paradise. Herman gone by year end after overseeing Horizon bundle to Switch 2. Japan to go all in on Astrobot instead, Party, Kart, Paint, all before the gen ends.

 

[Kacho]

Trouble in paradise. Herman gone by year end after overseeing Horizon bundle to Switch 2. Japan to go all in on Astrobot instead, Party, Kart, Paint, all before the gen ends.

Nice. Loving the bold prediction.

 

[nial]

Trouble in paradise. Herman gone by year end after overseeing Horizon bundle to Switch 2. Japan to go all in on Astrobot instead, Party, Kart, Paint, all before the gen ends.

Hermen is head of the Japanese development division (that works on Asian games in general).

 

[Killjoy-NL]

No, he's just on games and PS studio movies now, which means probably more Horizon than ever.

So nothing changed in that regard.

 

[diffusionx]

Top Sony management doesn't quite agree with that, I think we can leave our personal feelings out of the talk.

Huh? I'm actually curious to know about another case *exactly* like this.

This happens in the corporate world frequently, I've seen it with my own eyes. Company hires two people to do the same job in the c-suite, it's basically an audition, one guy gets the job, the other guy leaves. People don't usually want to now work for the guy who has the job they wanted and half-had. You can say whatever you want, it's a demotion, I wouldn't be surprised if Concord was a big reason for this. Hulst will likely be gone in six months, executive recruiters are probably blowing up his LinkedIn.

 

[Hypereides]

You're kidding right?

The guy is honestly deserving of a tag that compliments yours. Its long overdue. Just sayin'.

 

[Ashamam]

Any removal of authority is a slap in the face. One minute you are telling your mate what you are doing, the next you are asking. The reason though, that's up for debate.

1. Dual CEO structure was inefficient or they held opposing views that required a definitive choice for future planning.
2. Concord
3. GAAS
4. Something else totally unrelated like health/future retirement/or some forthcoming structural changes.

 

[Saber]

Hopefully this goes to the route of kicking Hermen out. Having to report to them means he has no control of whatever he wants to ship. Concord was probably the trigger here, maybe if this atrocity needed Hiroki or Nishino approval first, it would never ever been greenlighted in the first place. Good case scenario, stupid projects like that will not move foward which yes reduces Hermen power over new projects since he needs Hiroki/Nishino yes first.

 

[Kacho]

This happens in the corporate world frequently, I've seen it with my own eyes. Company hires two people to do the same job in the c-suite, it's basically an audition, one guy gets the job, the other guy leaves. People don't usually want to now work for the guy who has the job they wanted and half-had. You can say whatever you want, it's a demotion, I wouldn't be surprised if Concord was a big reason for this. Hulst will likely be gone in six months, executive recruiters are probably blowing up his LinkedIn.

We saw something similar at Blizzard. Ybarra and some woman were co-CEOs for a bit. She leaves, while blaming sexism or something, then Ybarra gets the gig for himself, then he gets cut and replaced by a m-m-mega milf.

 

[nial]

This happens in the corporate world, I've seen it with my own eyes. Company hires two people to do the same job in the c-suite, it's basically an audition, one guy gets the job, the other guy leaves. People don't usually want to now work for the guy who has the job they wanted and half-had. You can say whatever you want, it's a demotion, I wouldn't be surprised if Concord was a big reason for this.

Sorry, but I'm pretty sure the management structure over the roles of cooperative chief executive officers at a multinational gaming company owned by a Japaneae conglomerate is way more complex than what you believe.
In reality, upon Totoki becoming the CEO of Sony Group, he looked for a general CEO at SIE to basically replace his role of chairman. Hulst literally keeps having his role of CEO of the Studio Business Group, he will just need to report to a new superior at SIE, just like he had to report to another superior at SIE over the last 7 months (Totoki).

 

[nial]

The guy is honestly deserving of a tag that compliments yours. Its long overdue. Just sayin'.

Funny how I've always been open to discuss anything with you, while you just decided to throw dumb hate over me instead, as if anyone gives a fuck, LOL.

 

[Neff]

Make PlayStation PlayStation again

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Make PlayStation PlayStation again

They've always been the same.

It's the older generation gamers that seem to be stuck in time, like Gaf.

 

[SlimySnake]

Can't believe that idiot is still in charge of Sony WWS. In the corporate ladder, you really do fail upwards.

We all bitch about DEI all the time but Phil Spencer and Herman Hulst failing upwards is typical of corporate America and a far bigger problem because these hacks run the studios and set the agenda at the top.

No accountability whatsoever for these men at the top while lowly workers are laid off like pawns and blamed on twitter for trash games that turn out that way because of poor leadership at the top.

 

[Yoboman]

So basically Hermens is still there but gently shown the direction of the door

 

[Killjoy-NL]

We all bitch about DEI all the time but Phil Spencer and Herman Hulst failing upwards is typical of corporate America

Neither Herman Hulst nor Sony is American.

Such weird takes all around.