One of the most important figures at Sony is stepping down from his position, as the official PlayStation Twitter has announced that Shawn Layden is departing his role as Chairman of SIE Worldwide Studios and is leaving the company. Leyden has often been the face of PlayStation at public events for several years, and has spoken publicly about the decision for Sony to skip E3 2019.
Layden began his tenure with Sony back in 1987, where he started out as a Communications Assistant for the company. He would spend more than three decades with Sony, rising to the position of Vice President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe in 1999, before becoming President of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan in 2007. In 2014, Layden became President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, and was made the Chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios in 2018.
It's been revealed that Layden's time with Sony is at an end. The official PlayStation Twitter account reported that Layden is departing from Sony Interactive Entertainment in a positive message that thanked him for his years of service to the company. The reason for Layden's departure from Sony has yet to be revealed, and he hasn't spoken about the issue on social media as of the time of writing. There's currently no word regarding a successor for Layden's former position. Layden is the second high-ranking executive to depart from Sony in 2019, as Kaz Hirai retired from his position as Chairman in June.
Layden's tenure at Sony has seen the company reach new levels of success, as the PlayStation 4 is the best-selling console of this generation. Sony had a record fiscal year in 2018, which means that Layden is leaving the company on a high note as it prepares for the PlayStation 5 era. The PlayStation 4 has had a string of massively successful exclusives during Layden's time with the company, with games like Bloodborne, God of War, and Marvel's Spider-Man helping the system to stay ahead of the consoles released by Microsoft and Nintendo.
Layden isn't the only significant public face from the video game industry to step down from his position in 2019, as Reggie Fils-Aimé retired from Nintendo this year. It's currently unclear whether Layden has retired from work altogether or if he's moving to another company, so it's possible that his time with the video game industry is not over yet. The departure of both Hirai and Layden from Sony means that the company will need new public faces as it enters the crucial PlayStation 5 generation in 2020, and it remains to be seen who will rise to the task.
Source: PlayStation/Twitter