The head of PlayStation in the U.S., Jack Tretton, has stepped down, the company announced today. His last day will be on March 31.
Shawn Layden, who is executive vice president and COO of Sony Network Entertainment International, will take Tretton’s position as of April 1.
“This is a result of a mutual agreement between Mr. Tretton and [Sony Computer Entertainment America] not to renew their contractual relationship,” Sony said in a press release. Tretton had been with Sony since 1995, and he’d been president of Sony’s American division since 2006.
“Working at SCEA for the past 19 years has been the most rewarding experience of my career,” Tretton said in the statement. “Although I will deeply miss the talented team at SCEA and the passion demonstrated every day by our fans, I’m very excited about starting the next chapter of my career. I want to thank the employees, partners and customers for their tireless commitment to the PlayStation brand and, of course, to our fans who have pushed us to new heights of innovation and entertainment over the past two decades. I leave PlayStation in a position of considerable strength and the future will only get brighter for PlayStation Nation.”
Tretton also posted a message on the PlayStation Blog this afternoon. “We’ve shared many memories over the past two decades,” he wrote, “and I’ll always be grateful for your support.”
Layden, Sony America’s new boss, was a top executive in the company’s international digital entertainment division. He has been at Sony since 1996, and speaks fluent Japanese.
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10 responses to “Sony America CEO Jack Tretton Steps Down”
Does anybody have a link to the video from the gif? Looks like a must see to me.
So now the truth comes out.
His illicit affair with Amy Hennig must have got discovered and they were both shown the door.
Knew it! Its the bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky thing all over again.
Never mind my other post, it was the first result on google and not what I was expecting..
The man who honestly believed exclusives would not win the console war… and then the PS3 face planted for over five years.
The exclusive resulted in a small lead globally not a win so he’s a tad right and ps3 didn’t face plant for more than 2 – 3 years.
I think he did an ok job combating Japans arrogance that lost Sony its PS2 days lead.
He openly stated that exclusives didn’t sell consoles and then the Playstation 3 fell so far behind that it took seven years to equal the Xbox360. So yeah, I don’t have the highest opinion of the man.
Yeah I can’t say I disagree with your reasons for disliking the man. Heck maybe him leaving will get a replacement that results in the momentum PS4 has either staying or even increasing.
I am sure you will agree that the better Sony does the harder MS will have to work to keep pace resulting in people getting more for there money either side of the fence.
So Don Mattrick went to Zynga after quitting Xbox, will we see this guy head over to candy crush’s developer King? Or does he at least have a soul?
I think he has way to much personality unlike Mattrick to head to something like Zynga. Plus I get the feeling Mattrick bailed before his resume having Xbox One on it made him worth less while Trenton now has an improved resume.