The President of Sony Worldwide Studios has resigned with what, in the world of big business, passes for immediate effect. Phil Harrison will vacate his role at Sony on February 29th.
Harrison has been with Sony since 1992 and was a key player in the foundation of Sony Computer Entertainment and the PlayStation brand.
According to the official information available:
"Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO of SCEI, will immediately assume responsibilities as president of SCE WWS, in addition to his current duties."
The first tranche of press releases, however, lacked comment from Harrison himself. We have just received an update from Sony in Japan containing just such a bridge-fire extinguishing quote:
"The past 15 years at Sony Computer Entertainment has been the defining journey of my life so far.
"I am grateful to all the PlayStation family for their incredible support, guidance and friendship. It has been a privilege to serve as part of the team and be inspired by them on a daily basis. I am so proud of everything PlayStation has achieved and will continue to support its future in every way I can.
This comes a week after Harrison, speaking at a private meal at the Game Developer Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, blamed Sony in Japan for missing the 'casual' gaming boat. Harrison was widely quoted as saying:
"It's frustrating for me to experience, because I've been saying for years that playing games together is the future, but the guys in Japan [Sony] said that people just didn't play that way.
"The Wii ads show the perspective from the television of people on the sofa having fun together which is very clever, so how pissed off am I?
Apparently, very pissed off indeed. The question is, however, was Harrison expressing his disenchantment in the full knowledge that he was going to resign? Or was this, not-so-private, expression a reason for SCEI's president Kaz Hirai to request the resignation?
In fact, we contacted Sony for clarification last week and were told, "I'm afraid this was taken from a private lunch, so we're not making any further comment on this".
When we say, 'not-so-private' we mean it. Although only 20 people were present at what is now clearly Harrison's swansong, these included: Harrison with Raph Koster (lead designer of
Ultima Online as well a former CEO of Sony Online Entertainment), Neil Young (Vice President and General Manager Electronic Arts Los Angeles); Peter Molyneux (Lionhead); Chris Taylor (founder and CEO of Gas Powered Games) and David Perry (Acclaim, Shiny Entertainment and more).
The feeling around the industry is largely one of shock at the departure - and immense curiosity as to his next step.
Apparently, Sony for its part is sorry to see him go, with Kazuo Hirai saying:
"As one of the founding members of SCE, Phil played a key role in the development and growth of the PlayStation business and our industry.
It is sad to see him departing from SCE, but I wish to express my gratitude for his many invaluable contributions and also wish Phil the very best of luck in his future endeavours.
Bets are currently being taken on where he will pop up next. With Electronic Arts currently on the path of change, that could be worth a few pence at the bookies. Another wager that could reap some reward is that Harrison is to take up the considerable challenge of getting the troubled Infogrames-owned Atari brand back to its former glory. It must be stressed, however, that nothing is confirmed.
This is especially true of the future of Sony's first-party games development for PS3.
So, Harrison joins fellow PlayStation founding influence
Ken Kutargi in the world of freelance.
References: NextGen