Sony chairman says PlayStation's studios are full of "great creative minds" but need to understand business better

Sony's new chairman has been in his role for four months now, and his early impression is that PlayStation's studios need to understand business a bit better.

Earlier this week, during an earnings call, Sony's current chairman Hiroki Totoki - who will become the company's interim CEO following Jim Ryan's departure in April 2024 - discussed his initial impressions of the company after taking on his new role back in October 2023. Via a translator, Totoki mentioned that there was "room for improvement" in certain aspects of Sony, more specifically, "when it comes to the business."

As reported by VGC, Totoki explained that in the short time since he became chairman, he's tried to "have as many meetings as possible with the management team" as well as visited developers that fall under the PlayStation Studios umbrella. "Everyone is working really hard to fulfill their responsibility to try to optimize the business, and I understand that," the CEO said. "But overall growth and sustainable profitability for increasing margins… how will that translate to these goals?"

"I don’t think people understand that deeply," Totoki continues, "I think that is the problem of the organization." The chairman then goes on to praise the developers working in PlayStation's studios: "People who work in the studios have very high motivation. They’re very highly motivated, they’re very good people, and they have great creative minds and knowledge of live streaming."

"However, having said that," the CEO adds, "when it comes to the business, I think there is room for improvement. And that’s to do with how to use money, the schedule of development, and how to fulfill one’s accountability towards development – those are my frank impressions." Totoki then says that he will continue to meet with people across the business "so that we can find the right way to proceed." 

Elsewhere in the earnings call, the chairman revealed that the PS5 won't get new "major existing franchise titles" before April