PlayStation CEOs Hideaki Nishino and Hermen Hulst Reveal How New Two-Business Strategy Impacts Studio, Console Plans (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comJennifer Maas TV Business Writer (Editor’s note: Variety’s interview with Sony Interactive Entertainment CEOs Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino occurred on Oct.
16, prior to PlayStation’s Tuesday announcement it is shutting down Firewalk Studios and Neon Koi. SIE was unable to make studio business CEO Hulst available for additional comment or to clarify his previous comments about layoffs in this story ahead of publication.) This spring, Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida turned heads when he picked two PlayStation vets to lead Sony Interactive Entertainment: Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino.
After all, having co-CEOs is a potential recipe for friction. In their first interview since assuming their new roles in June, Nishino and Hulst speak to Variety about how their partnership works.
They argue that the scale of the company behind the “God of War” and “Spider-Man” franchises has grown to require two operations that each need specialized leadership: a platform business run by Nishino and a studio business headed by Hulst. “This is not co-CEOs; it’s two CEOs for the company,” Nishino says. “Hermen runs his thing, I run my thing, and then we get together to talk about how to grow the business.” Nishino acknowledges the tension inherent in the structure but spins it as a healthy dynamic: “Growing the business for success has a conflict as well: how we impact each other or how we want to sacrifice or not.
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