PlayStation veteran Shuhei Yoshida, who's been around since the very beginning, is leaving Sony after 31 years: "PlayStation is in really good hands"

PlayStation veteran Shuhei Yoshida is leaving the company after 31 years.

As announced on the PlayStation Blog, the former SIE Worldwide Studios president will leave Sony early next year.

"I’m leaving Sony Interactive Entertainment on January 15 2025," Yoshida said. "It’s like announcing the launch date of a new game, [something] I haven’t done for a long time [laughs]."

Yoshida was one of the original members of Sony's PlayStation project going all the way back to February 1993, and he played an instrumental role in the development of the platform and some of its biggest games. He's probably best known for his stint as SIE Worldwide Studios president from 2008 to 2019 in which he oversaw PlayStation's first-party publishing efforts. Since then, he's been heading up SIE's indie initiative.

Yoshida didn't provide an exact reason for leaving PlayStation, but he struck an optimistic tone about the future of the company.

"I’ve been with PlayStation from the beginning, and this is my 31st year with PlayStation," Yoshida said. "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.

"So you know, PlayStation is in really good hands. I thought, okay, this is my time."

If it weren't for Yoshida, our list of the best PS5 games would likely look a whole lot different.