PlayStation has announced the appointment of a new head of Worldwide Studios, having hired Guerilla Games managing director and co-founder Hermen Hulst for the position.
Hulst has already gotten down to business and will be responsible for the management of all of Sony's game development across the company's 14 international studios.
The change comes as part of Sony's restructuring leading up to the launch of the PlayStation 5, as well as in the wake of the departure of Worldwide Studios Chairman Shawn Layden. The entity's president, Shuhei Yoshida, will also be leaving his role in order to head a new project that will oversee smaller external independent studios.
PlayStation CEO and president Jim Ryan spoke to GamesIndustry.biz about the recent changes.
"Hermen is a European who will be taking one of the major offices at PlayStation," he said. "I think everybody in Europe should be thrilled and happy and proud that that is happening."
"Hermen is one of the most effective and well-respected leaders in the video game industry," he added in a statement. He is a passionate advocate for the teams he leads and understands how to empower creative talent to build great experiences. I have no doubt Hermen can lead our teams to deliver compelling and diverse experiences at a steady cadence."
Guerilla Games is a reputable studio in the industry and is best known for its Killzone series; the company also worked with Kojima Productions on Death Stranding. Angie Smets, Jan-Bart van Beek and Michiel van der Leeuw will step up as joint studio heads in Hulst's place.
"I have worked closely with PlayStation and the entire Worldwide Studios family since 2001, and I have the utmost respect and admiration for the creative talent and ambitious ideas within the network of studios across the US, Europe, and Japan," Hulst says.
Meanwhile, the news of Yoshida's move will be particularly pleasing to the indie gaming community as there was concern expressed by certain studios pertaining to fears that PlayStation would renege on support for smaller devs.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz