TOKYO -- Sony Group President Hiroki Totoki will perform double duty as head of the subsidiary in charge of PlayStation, the company said Thursday, after he sounded a warning on the video game segment's earnings downturn.
Totoki begins serving next month as chairman of California-based Sony Interactive Entertainment. Jim Ryan, SIE's current president and CEO, retires at the end of March. Totoki will then become "interim CEO," Sony said.
Sony has long given wide decision-making latitude to SIE's management team. By taking direct leadership of SIE, Totoki may be signaling tighter cost controls are ahead for a unit that has spent heavily on game development and acquisitions.
Totoki also holds Sony's purse strings as the Japanese group's chief financial officer. When presenting quarterly earnings last November, he sounded a note of urgency over the gaming segment's earnings slump.
"Our biggest regret is that we have made a significant downgrade to the operating income forecast" for the second straight quarter, Totoki said during the earnings call.