Last month, Shuhei Yoshida announced his retirement from Sony Interactive Entertainment. His career at the company started back in 1986, and by 1993 he became involved with the corporation's nascent PlayStation division. The Japanese industry veteran has gone on a press appearance blitz over the past couple of weeks; many headlines have been generated by his candid musings. Most recently, Sacred Symbols+ engaged in a conversation with Yoshida—their (paywalled) two-hour long podcast episode (#347) was made available to subscribers this week. The former PlayStation chief divulged that he pushed hard for the conversion of first-party titles from console origins to PC platforms, but his colleagues were reportedly reluctant to adopt this practice (at the time). Yoshida-san outlined the benefits: "releasing on PC does many things: it reaches a new audience who do not own consoles—especially in regions where consoles are not as popular. The idea is that those people may become fans of a particular franchise, and when a new game in that series comes out, they may be convinced to purchase a PlayStation." Sony started readjusting its exclusivity model a few years ago; greater ambitions were revealed in 2024.

He continued with this thought process: "it also adds additional income, because porting to PC is way cheaper than creating an original title...So, it's almost like printing money. And that helps us to invest in new titles now that the cost of games has increased." The ex-SIE boss believes that emerging markets are best served with releases on PC. Yoshida mentioned a huge (almost untapped) market—his ex-colleagues could do well, by targeting said region in the near future: "China is a huge PC game market...And China is a growing but very small console market. In order to reach the audience in countries like China then it's crucial to release on PC. So, I believe PC versions really reach a new audience." PC gamers have largely welcomed an improved flow of ported first-party titles, but Sony has absorbed feedback flak in early 2025; namely an underwhelming reception to Marvel's Spider-Man 2. In late January, Team Sony announced a revised PlayStation Network account policy; backpedalling from a system that featured strict sign-in requirements.

Sony Group Corporation and Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), the company behind PlayStation, today announced the appointment of Hideaki Nishino to the role of President and CEO effective April 1, 2025. This marks an evolution designed to maximize synergies across SIE that was announced in May 2024 in which Nishino was appointed CEO of the Platform Business Group effective June 1, 2024, alongside Hermen Hulst, who was appointed CEO of the Studio Business Group. Hulst will continue to serve as CEO, Studio Business Group, SIE, reporting to Nishino.

Sony Group Corporation and SIE also announced that effective April 1, Hiroki Totoki, President, COO and CFO of Sony Group Corporation, will step down from the SIE Chairman position to become President and CEO of Sony Group Corporation, and that Lin Tao, currently serving as SVP, Finance, Corporate Strategy and Development for SIE, will step down from her position at SIE to become CFO of Sony Group Corporation. Her successor at SIE will be announced at a later time.

An industry mole—familiar with internal NCSOFT activities—believes that three game development projects have been cancelled: Pantera, H, and J. Past speculation has pointed to "Project H" being an announced Horizon MMO title—based on evidence that emerged shortly after the announced formation of a "strategic global business partnership" between Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) and NCSOFT (back in 2023). Reportedly, Jim Ryan—the now former CEO and chairman of SIE—spearheaded PlayStation's concerted push into multi-faceted "live service" development cycles. Industry oracle, Jason Schreier, questioned the prioritization of "games as a service"—his late 2023 predictions seem very prescient, when looking at the present day landscape.

Last week, reports suggested two unannounced Sony-owned live-service games being placed on the proverbial chopping board. Bluepoint's much rumored "God of War" project was quietly canned according to Schreier's Bloomberg column, as well as a mysterious Bend Studios-produced title. NCSOFT's Project H—also known as "Skyline"—appears to be the victim of an internal "feasibility review." Target platforms were reported to be PC and mobile—therefore placing Project H/Skyline in a separate tranche; distinct from another online-oriented Horizon game. Franchise originator—Guerrilla Games—is reportedly still toiling away (with Bungie's guidance) on an upcoming multiplayer-focused release for PlayStation 5 home consoles.

Noted technology tipster, Kepler L2, believes that the Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) engineering team has finalized the design of a PlayStation 6 (PS6) system-on-chip (SoC)—insider information was shared on the NeoGAF forum (a popular computer game discussion board) late last week. It would be natural to assume that Sony's gaming division is deep into the process of developing a follow-up to its PlayStation 5 home console, but Kepler L2's fresh revelation points to surprisingly advanced progress. Insider sources point to the PS6's chip design being: "complete and in pre-silicon validation already, with A0 tapeout scheduled for late this year."

Industry experts have analyzed PlayStation development cycles of days past—history has demonstrated a pattern of the A0 tapeout phase reaching completion around two years before the rollout of finalized products at retail. Kepler L2 reckons that this pattern will be repeated—indicating a possible launch of PlayStation by 2027. The rumored PS6 chipset has been linked to AMD's "gfx13" target—everyone's favorite Team Red tipster posits that Sony engineers are working with a "fork" of this next-gen "UDNA" graphics technology. The rumor mill has generated additional PS6 SoC-related internet chatter—last Friday, Chiphell alleged a possible adoption of Team Red's X3 V-cache technology.

Update on March 13, 2024: the PS5 system software update is rolling out globally today. Additionally, later this month a PlayStation App update will enable users to enjoy Share Screen interactions on the app as well. As the new year kicks into high gear with an amazing slate of PS5 game releases like The Last of Us Part II Remastered, Tekken 8 and Helldivers 2, along with FINAL FANTASY VII Rebirth, we're pleased to roll out another PS5 system software beta today with a number of quality-of-life enhancements and new features.

While beta access is limited to invited participants in select countries, we plan to release the update globally in the coming months. If you're selected to participate in the beta, you'll receive an email invitation today when it's available to download. Some features available during the beta phase may not make it into the final version or may see significant changes. Let's jump in to the newly added features below.

Jim Ryan—President & CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment—revealed a sobering restructuring plan earlier today: "The PlayStation community means everything to us, so I felt it was important to update you on a difficult day at our company. We have made the extremely hard decision to announce our plan to commence a reduction of our overall headcount globally by about 8% or about 900 people, subject to local law and consultation processes. Employees across the globe, including our studios, are impacted." Ryan's full email—addressed to the entire Sony Interactive Entertainment workforce—can be found here. It reveals that company leadership has decided to close its PlayStation London Studio—the South East UK team is/was reportedly working on an announced "PS5 online game." Microsoft revealed a larger scale layoff program late last month—affecting 1900 employees—albeit without shuttering any major development studios. A number of its California-based teams are in the process of ditching "traditional" office locations (including a former aircraft hangar), and are moving to a work from home (WFH) model.

The SIE chief believes that current circumstances are not sustainable: "These are incredibly talented people who have been part of our success, and we are very grateful for their contributions. However, the industry has changed immensely, and we need to future ready ourselves to set the business up for what lies ahead. We need to deliver on expectations from developers and gamers and continue to propel future technology in gaming, so we took a step back to ensure we are set up to continue bringing the best gaming experiences to the community." His email outlines an "impact for employees across all SIE regions—Americas, EMEA, Japan, and APAC," with reductions affecting native development teams and Firesprite, a Liverpool, UK-based studio (founded by former Psygnosis veterans). Hermen Hulst, Head of PlayStation Studios, also posted a blog entry on the subject of SIE global layoffs—he confirmed a number of reductions and project cancellations.

Launching today, our latest wireless headset, Pulse Elite, brings crisp, immersive audio to the gaming experience on the PS5 console; to PlayStation Link supported devices including PS5, PC, Mac, and PlayStation Portal remote player; and to Bluetooth compatible devices such as smartphones and tablets. Pulse Elite follows the launch of our first wireless earbuds, Pulse Explore, with both audio devices featuring planar magnetic drivers to further enhance the PS5 console's Tempest 3D AudioTech. When combined with PlayStation Link, the planar drivers precisely deliver the output of the 3D audio algorithms directly to the player's ear without loss, and nearly no distortion or delay. Here's our quick-start guide on setting up and using the Pulse Elite wireless headset, along with Pulse Explore wireless earbuds.

Set up and use sidetone and 3D audio features on PS5
A tour of the headset appears when you first connect the Pulse Elite wireless headset or Pulse Explore wireless earbuds to your PS5 console via the included PlayStation Link USB adapter. Before diving into a game, I recommend personalizing 3D audio settings and adjusting sidetone volume (changing this adjusts how loudly you hear your own voice in your ear when you talk). It's also possible to create a custom name for the headset, with standard letters, symbols, and even emoji. After the tour, you can change settings at any time while the headset is connected by navigating to the Settings menu and selecting Accessories, followed by Pulse Elite wireless headset.