Kaz Hirai steps down as Sony’s CEO, ending PlayStation’s reign

Kaz Hirai plans to step down as Sony’s president and CEO on April 1, when company executive Kenichiro Yoshida will take over the top spot. Yoshida is Sony’s current executive deputy president and chief financial officer. Since Yoshida didn’t rise through the ranks in Sony’s game division as Hirai did, you could say that the reign of PlayStation is over at Sony. Hirai will remain chairman.

Hirai’s impending departure is one of a number of former PlayStation leaders to leave Sony. Hirai ran Sony Computer Entertainment America for many years and was instrumental in launching the original PlayStation in 1994 and 1995. You could say there has been a brain drain of PlayStation leaders, who were a feisty group that stole the leadership in gaming away from Nintendo.

Unlock premium content and VIP community perks with GB M A X! Join now to enjoy our free and premium perks. 

Join now →

Sign in to your account.

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.