What do you think positioned Sony Interactive Entertainment to continue leading the PlayStation brand and the gaming industry, arguably, in the future?
Jim Ryan: "First of all, we've been really clear and really consistent about what we stand for, which is great consoles, great console gaming experience, and great games. And I would say that right now we're at the top of our game, you know, PlayStation 5, well on track to be our most successful console ever across multiple vectors, and I think the games and the gaming experiences that you see on PlayStation 5, led by PlayStation Studios, are the best that we've ever seen.
"And you know, the number of games that we have published so far on PlayStation 5, at this point in the cycle, way exceeds anything that we've ever done before, and with all the investment that we've put into the studio and the acquisitions that we've made, you know, that is only going to accelerate and kind of snowball.
"So I think, you know, we sit in a position of strength, and I think the future is bright."
And where do you hope to see the PlayStation brand go in the future, and maybe even the whole gaming medium for that matter?
Jim Ryan: "Well, I think what I would love to see is the size of the PlayStation community grow, and we've taken some good steps along that path. We've, as you know, we've been publishing now on PC format for a few years. We have more than a dozen of our most beloved games appeared on PC millions of people enjoying those. You know, just over the last few years, Helldivers II. Great game. And the reception of that, we were optimistic, but the reception that it's enjoying, exceeding our expectations, and that gives us great confidence for the future in this space.
"So I think that our extension of gaming IP beyond gaming, I think, is a very powerful thing too. You've got this sort of symbiotic thing where you take a game like The Last of Us, you create the HBO series, you expose millions of new people to the storytelling, to the lore of The Last of Us, and many people are coming back and saying, oh, was that a video game?
"I think I need to try this video game, and we can see that on our network. Every time an episode dropped big spikes in sales of the game, and obviously, it kind of cuts worth ways, and you get this symbiotic effect of success beginning success, and that's lovely. And we had it with the Uncharted movie, obviously The Last of Us, the Gran Turismo movie, and
many more things in the pipeline.
"So there's a number of kind of vectors that were pursuing this growth strategy, and again, I think against a backdrop of a growing gaming industry, again, I'm really, really optimistic about the future. I look forward to seeing where PlayStation ends up in the months and years to come."
What words of advice do you have, not just for the next CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, but for other future leaders?
Jim Ryan: "I think for the next CEO of PlayStation, Sony Interactive Entertainment, I'd say one simple thing, you know, never forget that we deal in entertainment. That's what's made us successful in the past, and I think as long as we don't lose sight of that, we will continue to enjoy success in the future.
"I think more generally, we are a large and kind of very diverse business, and one person can never be on top of anything, so I think having a great leadership team is really, really important, and it's probably the thing that I'm happiest about leaving behind is a really strong leadership team of excellent individuals who are experts in their own particular area of business, but just as importantly, behave in the right way and demonstrate the right values individually and collectively, and I think that as a general, as a more general pointer outside of Sony Interactive Entertainment would be what I'd say to any leader, just focus on your team, get that right, and make sure that they're behaving in the right way.
"Never forget that people in the organization are looking to you, the person at the top, and the leadership team beneath them, and taking their behavioral cues from what you do, so you know, you've got to walk the walk as well as talk in the talk, and it's not always easy because we all have bad days, but you know, those are the days where you've got to sort of stand up and demonstrate the right ways to behave."
What is your funniest memory from your time at PlayStation over all these years?
Jim Ryan: "Ooh, you know, those industry events are a rich vein of, I would say the PS3 boomerang controller, and there'll be some listeners who are going to have to consult Google on this, but you have got this thing that's ridiculous."
Before we wrap up, do you have any final message for PlayStation fans?
Jim Ryan: "No, I just thank them for, you know, been so true to us, so many of them, you know, we know that many of the people, we were talking about 1995, the people who were in the Ministry of Sound experiencing Tekken or Ridge Racer for the first time then, you know, they became loyal fans and they've stayed with us and now their children, in many cases, and in some cases their grandchildren are members of the PlayStation community and that I think is incredibly powerful and incredibly important. But you know, I just thank everybody, whoever they are, wherever they are, for their support and loyalty and we hope to continue to delight and surprise you in the months and years to come."
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