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Shuhei Yoshida (aka ‘Shu’) has left Sony, closing a near 32-year chapter of his life with the company.

Yoshida announced he was leaving Sony back in November, setting his retirement date for January 15th, 2025. Now, the one-time President of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Worldwide Studios has bid farewell to the company.

At farewell party yesterday pic.twitter.com/hpiPWQIO1z

— Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) January 14, 2025

“I’ve been with PlayStation from the beginning, and this is my 31st year with PlayStation,” Yoshida said in a PS blog interview. “And when I hit 30 years, I was thinking, hmm, it may be about time for me to move on. You know, the company’s been doing great. I love PS5, I love the games that are coming out on this platform. And we have new generations of management who I respect and admire. And I’m so excited for the future of PlayStation.”

Among his many accomplishments across the PS3 and PS4 era, Yoshida is known for playing a key role in the success of several iconic franchises such as Gran Turismo, The Last of Us, and Uncharted.

Yoshida is also credited with guiding Sony through significant stages of its gaming division, overseeing the development of both hardware and software, and fostering strong relationships with both ‘AAA’ and indie game developers alike—something he would champion in his later career as the company’s Head of Indies Initiative at PlayStation following his stepdown as President of Sony’s Worldwide Studios.

The beloved Sony exec was also a driving force behind the creation and promotion of PSVR, having advocated for making VR accessible to a wider audience by integrating it with the PS4.

First unveiled at GDC 2014, and still codenamed Project Morpheus, Yoshida went on to evangelize VR within the company, making public appearances, keynotes, and fostering relationships with developers to create a strong lineup of VR content for the platform.

Yoshida pushed for affordable pricing and a strong content lineup to support the PSVR launch in 2016, positioning the headset as a more accessible entry into VR compared to the pricier PC VR systems like the HTC Vive and original Oculus Rift, which required high-spec PCs to run.

Yoshida hasn’t intimated what’s next, however he’s said he’s still interested in working in the video game sector, having just announced jointed the vocal cast of Kaizen Game Works’ upcoming Promise Mascot Agency as a bird-like character named ‘MonouGe’.

Above all, Yoshida has always been a refreshingly candid and positive influence in the industry, and Road to VR wishes him well on wherever he decides to go next. 吉田さん、ありがとうございます。(Thank you very much, Yoshida-san!)