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Kaz Hirai Makes Sony Online Entertainment His Bitch
Posted by Michael McWhertor at 6:00 AM on March 14, 2008
Sony is beefing up its PlayStation business, announcing that Sony Online Entertainment, developer and publisher of EverQuest, The Agency, Star Wars Galaxies and much, much more will now report to big boss Kaz Hirai. He's the president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment International, Ken Kutaragi's replacement. You know that.
While SOE has done its share of PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PSP development in the past, we would expect that the alignment with SCEI will mean additional focus on PlayStation output. Potentially good news for the PS3's first-party line up and the PlayStation Network.
The official word is that SOE will continue to develop for the PS3 and PC and that president John Smedley will be one rung under Hirai on the corporate ladder. All that officialness is in the following press release on the matter.
SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT INC. AND SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT LEVERAGE EXPERTISE IN THE COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRYSAN DIEGO, CA & TOKYO, JAPAN (March 13, 2008) -- In a strategic move to closely align itself with the strong growth of the worldwide online gaming market, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) announced today that Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) will report to Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, SCEI, effective April 1, 2008. The new structure is designed to mutually benefit both companies by further accelerating the PlayStation business through SOE's strong online gaming expertise.
"I am excited to be able to work with SOE even more closely, as online games and services become a more integral part of the PS3 entertainment experience," Hirai said. "This new structure will allow us to take full advantage of the extensive breadth of expertise of the two companies and increase our range of exciting entertainment offerings to our consumers."
San Diego-based SOE is currently part of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Under the new structure, SOE will continue to develop its games for the PC and the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3®) computer entertainment system, and SOE President John Smedley will report to Hirai.
"We are thrilled to become a part of the incredible team that has made PLAYSTATION 3 the premier platform for next generation online gaming," said Smedley. "This move is going to broaden our capabilities and expand the development of our products into new and exciting directions."
About Sony Online Entertainment
Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) is a recognised worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers around the globe. SOE creates, develops and provides compelling entertainment for the personal computer, online, game console and wireless markets. Known for its blockbuster franchises and hit titles including EverQuest®, EverQuest® II, Champions of Norrath®, Untold Legends™, and PlanetSide®, as well as for developing Star Wars Galaxies™, SOE continues to redefine the business of online gaming and the creation of active player communities while introducing new genres on various entertainment platforms. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, with additional development studios in Austin, TX, Seattle, WA, Denver, CO and Taiwan, SOE has an array of cutting-edge games in development.About Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Recognised as the global leader and company responsible for the progression of consumer-based computer entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) manufacturers, distributes and markets the PlayStation® game console, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system and the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3®) system. PlayStation has revolutionized home entertainment by introducing advanced 3D graphic processing, and PlayStation 2 further enhances the PlayStation legacy as the core of home networked entertainment. PSP is a new handheld entertainment system that allows users to enjoy 3D games, with high-quality full-motion video, and high-fidelity stereo audio. PS3 is an advanced computer system, incorporating the state-of-the-art Cell processor with super computer like power. SCEI, along with its subsidiary divisions Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd., and Sony Computer Entertainment Korea Inc. develops, publishes, markets and distributes software, and manages the third party licensing programs for these platforms in the respective markets worldwide. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. is an independent business unit of the Sony Group.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
wild_world_girl
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
This is great news - SCEA is a much better parent for SOE than Sony Pictures. Only good gaming things can come from SOE moving from a movie company to a game company.
wild_world_girl
Bleentastic sees bandwagon and jumps
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@Mr.SithNinja: or you could just wait till the summer/fall of this year and not pay the $49.99 and get the kind of service of Live
Bleentastic sees bandwagon and jumps
mindscienceofthemind
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@Livid: SOE is not involved with the new Star Wars MMO.
mindscienceofthemind
joelface
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
wow, 3 games i couldn't give a shit about.
meanwhile the 360 gets N+
...pick up your MOTHERFUCKING game sony. fauuuck.
joelface
GeekyChic
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
Overheard that this came as a surprise to SOE folks--even VP level folks. Some of them found out when they saw the press release.
Guess it makes sense now that they don't communicate with press well -- they can't even get it together in-house.
GeekyChic
Sweet Tooth
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
hooray they mentioned PC.
Sweet Tooth
Rask
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
Well Sony software companies were a completely disjoined, contradictory mess.
One of em would say something and the next week the other guy across the pond would say something else.
The onle positive of all this was that at having all the different viewpoints contributed to a lot of the variety we saw in Sony's 1st Party titles.
Hopefully Kaz will be able to get everyone on the same page organizationally without squelching the originality of each.
Rask
Collapse The Control
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@Fantus: I'm well aware that both networks have free and charged content. As for Leaderboards, they are free as long as they aren't ONLINE MULTIPLAYER boards, for example, all high scores on games like Pacman or Castlevania are all free to view and enter on. But you can't get into leaderboards for most wins on Street Fighter online matches.
Again, you are only playing for the access to play online against others. If you do not like playing online against others (lots of people are like that) then you get everything and more the free P$N offers.
Collapse The Control
JudgeNutmeg
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
Kaz is eating Sony!
Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, they've been a many headed beast for a long time, often seeming to work against each other rather than with each other.
JudgeNutmeg
Fantus
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@Collapse The Control:
C'mon now. No. Not all the content is free. But it's not free on Live either.
However, you have to pay M$ in order to have the same online access to the games that you get for free when you purchase the same title for the same price on PSN.
Make sense? Prolly not, i'll use this as an example.
Why pay M$ $49.95 for leaderboards on arcade games when you get that for free on PSN?
(...waiting for the obligitory BUT ACHIEVEMENTS ARE THE $HIT comment...)
Fantus
Duoae
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
Hmmm. No good will come of this.... mark my words.
Duoae
zoesch
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@Modus_Operandi: I prefer that than two divisions endlessly squabbling and working against each other, specially since the move towards MMO-type games on consoles seems to be where the industry is heading.
zoesch
ninjadan
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
Ideally this is the best move possible for SOE and it actually gives me hope that maybe they can turn something around.
While under Sony Pictures, they were at the whim of someone who fundamentally did not understand games and as such suffered financially and strategically. At least there is hope that now they can focus on gaming and not fighting the movie people for budgets and support. So yes, this is good.
Right?
While I'm dreaming, I'd like a pony, too.
ninjadan
Candlejack
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
Hey Kaz....we're friends right? Ok? Yes? Can I drive ur Ferrarizz plx?? :D
Candlejack
Maximus9
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@squidboy007: I'm not convinced we'd see that until at least the installed base outgrows that of the 360 in NA. Even then, I think they said they are looking at more ad revenue model or microtransactions than the $50 per year. I still have a bad taste in my mouth for paying that amount for the 360 and I don't even play it that much.
Maximus9
Sabastian_Chadwick_McGirt
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
This means that the PS3 will finally have a good 1st party online game besides Warhawk. Don't get me wrong, it's awesome, but it's gotten old at this point.
Sabastian_Chadwick_McGirt
Papa Midnight
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
Bah shit... time to change my PR contacts once again. Who knows, perhaps T'Rod can be more helpful than Joshua over at SCEA (who doesn't seem to know how to keep promises with smaller media outlets <_< )
Papa Midnight
AnthraxJunkie
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@DigitalHero: Correction #2, SOE buy some good IPs and make them crappy, they also buy crappy ones and make them crappier!
AnthraxJunkie
Tull
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
Vanguard is like the Hudson Hawk of MMORPGs.
Tull
rawg
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
Sounds like a good business move. I'm sure SOE has some good infrastructure and operations people that will complement the current PSN team.
PSN will probably need the help with the impending launch of HOME. Having a few engineers who know how to support multi-million player MMOs around the data center is a good idea.
rawg
DigitalHero
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@AnthraxJunkie:
Vanguard was good? Since when? =P
DigitalHero
Collapse The Control
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@goldwings: All game content, arcade games & movies/shows (do they have any? I dunno!) are all FREE???
If so, I am going to get a P$3 A$AP.
Collapse The Control
DrHobo
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
Riiiiidge Racer!!!
'nuff said
DrHobo
MrTaco
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
on a less Sony vs MS note, i wonder if we have the potential to see PC/PS3 crossplatform MMO's from this.
MrTaco
AnthraxJunkie
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@DigitalHero: Correction, they buy good IPs and make them crappy.
AnthraxJunkie
goldwings
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@Collapse The Control: I don't quite get why you put the PSN having the $ sign when it doesn't charge you for anything :/
...yet
goldwings
Livid
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@Mr.SithNinja: Sure, and I want to see a version of SWG that isn't complete fucking shit.
Good luck to both of us.
Livid
NotAZombie
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@Kyle81: Damn straight.
NotAZombie
Livid
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
Well, I guess he can't do any worse than that prick Smedley has done.
Livid
Collapse The Control
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@Kyle81: If you are actually playing online games then of course it is worth it. If not, you are wasting money, but i'm sure you know that much.
Collapse The Control
Tull
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
There's good and bad to having one guy being in charge of everything. The good thing will be is that he can set the goal for each division and make sure they all conform to how he wants things done. The bad side of being the guy dipping his wick in all those different pies is that he may end up overstretching his time just trying to give equal attention to each division. But then again as some have mentioned maybe he is a cyborg, or maybe even cloned himself.
Tull
Heliophage
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
Please, for the love of all that is holy and just, stop with the dollar signs.
Je$us.
Heliophage
L
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@Kyle81: BAM!
L
Kyle81
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@Collapse The Control: It better be, since I'm fucking paying for it.
Kyle81
Collapse The Control
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@Kyle81: XBL > P$N
Collapse The Control
Kyle81
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@Collapse The Control: Micro$oft's Live?
Kyle81
Mr.SithNinja
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
I wanna see a version of Star Wars Galaxies on the PS3. Anyone else?
Mr.SithNinja
Abdar
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
Just when Sony and PS3 were starting to look good they reminded me of the shit that was/is their mmo business.
Abdar
NecronomiconUK
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
One clown shoes division, meet the other clown shoes division.
Good luck kaz
NecronomiconUK
Mr.SithNinja
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
@Earthslide: I would gladly pay $49.95 a year to have the kind of set up Live has on my PS3.
Mr.SithNinja
Collapse The Control
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
$ONY ONLINE
Collapse The Control
wisconsinista
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
Everything just got delayed a quarter. Has this guy ever met a deadline?
wisconsinista
squidboy007
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
Well, I wouldnt be suprised if they eventually start charging for online service, itll be somewhat pissy of them, but I'd use it anyway. Under protest.
squidboy007
Modus_Operandi
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
Kaz Hirai is officially Sony's dictator now. Now only did he take Ken's job, and these duties and his previous responsibilites but he also took Phil Harrisons. Do we need anymore evidence to accept the truth? Kaz is a cyborg from the future sent here to build Skynet.
Modus_Operandi
DigitalHero
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
It's about time. They need to get SOE in order, they make crap and buy crappy IP's.
DigitalHero
Earthslide
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
As long as we don't have to pay $49.99!
Earthslide
SnakeCL
Posted 10:54 PM 19/3/08
... Smedley? That name sounds familiar, like something out of a Monty Python skit. Not to be confused with smegma.
SnakeCL