Andrew House, after leading Sony’s PlayStation group for the past six years, is leaving the company at the end of the year, the Japanese conglomerate announced Tuesday.
John (Tsuyoshi) Kodera, currently deputy president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, will take over the reins as president and CEO of the PlayStation division, effective immediately. Kodera reports directly to Kazuo Hirai, president and CEO of Sony Corp. House will remain with Sony Interactive Entertainment as chairman through the end of 2017.
House, a 27-year Sony veteran, led the 2013 launch of PlayStation 4, which is on track to reach cumulative sales of 78 million consoles for the fiscal year ending in March 2018 — the fastest-growing PlayStation platform to date. The exec also focused Sony’s network services strategy around PlayStation Network, currently with more than 70 million monthly active users, and oversaw the launch of live-TV service PlayStation Vue in the U.S. House also spearheaded the development and launch of PlayStation VR, its entry into the virtual-reality market.
“I’m extremely grateful to Andy for the great contribution he has made to evolving the PlayStation business, and firmly positioning it as one of the drivers of our future growth,” Hirai said in a statement. “John Kodera has led Sony’s network service business since 2013 and played a pivotal role in its growth. He is a truly global executive, possessing strategic understanding, strength of conviction and outstanding leadership capabilities.”
House said PlayStation “has been a huge part of my life for more than 20 years but with the business having achieved record-breaking success, now seemed to be the right time for me to pursue new challenges.”
Kodera joined Sony in 1992 in the company’s portable audio business unit. In 1998 he was transferred to Sony Electronics Inc. in the U.S., where he was initially responsible for planning and control of various portable and mobile products, before subsequently being appointed VP of product management for information-technology products such as PCs. In 2010 he assumed the role of SVP of corporate strategy at the newly established Sony Network Entertainment International and in 2013 was appointed its president.
Under Kodera, PlayStation Network has launched an array of new services including PlayStation Store, which sells the game titles, movies and TV shows; the PlayStation Plus subscription service; and the PlayStation Now online game streaming service. He’s also played a key role in the launch of PS Vue, the PlayStation Video content-distribution service, and PlayStation Music, launched in partnership with Spotify after Sony phased out its own streaming-music service.
“It’s a great honor to take on the role of president and CEO, SIE, and I’m very grateful to Kaz and Andy for the trust and faith they have shown in me,” Kodera said in a statement.
