14 DAY TRIAL // Sony Computer Entertainment International has officially announced that Shuhei Yoshida is the person who is taking over as president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, known as SCE WWS, a position that was left vacated as Phil Harrison departed from Sony.
Until now, Shuhei Yoshida has occupied the position of vice president of the United States branch of the SCE WWS game development studios. He has a long history inside the company, as he was part of the original group of people that linked up at Sony to pursue the development of the PlayStation project. He served as head of the product development department beginning in April 1996 and, in April 2000, he was promoted to vice president of product development at SCEI. He was involved, in one capacity or another, in all the relevant developments that affected the PlayStation since its initial development, to the transition to the PlayStation 2 and to the PlayStation 3.
Former president of SCE WWS Phil Harrison has left his preeminent position at Sony to join Infogrames at the beginning of February. He stated that, while Sony always meant a lot to him, he was drawn to the French based publisher because his position there would present him with a broader array of challenges.
Regarding the recent appointment, Kazuo Hirai, the president and group Chief Executive Officer of Sony Computer Entertainment International, stated that "SCE WWS has been developing global hit titles, sharing resources and know-how within SCE Group since its foundation, and we will reinforce our software business by further enhancing coordination among the studios under a new leader. Under the leadership of Yoshida, who has proven track record in managing creative talent, SCE WWS will accelerate the software development for the PlayStation 3 and PSP platforms and vigorously expand the gaming market".
SCE WWS is the main producer of games for the PlayStation gaming consoles and Sony relies on the studios to create the must have titles that the PlayStation 3 needs in its "console war" with the Microsoft Xbox 360.