John Kodera, the current Deputy President of Sony Interactive Entertainment, has today been appointed its Presented and CEO, the company recently announced; with Current President and CEO, Andrew House beginning the transition from operational management of Sony Interactive Entertainment and will act as Director and Chairman into 2017 to ensure it proceeds smoothly, the company also confirmed.
“I’m tremendously proud of what we’ve built with PlayStation and Sony Interactive Entertainment: entertaining millions globally with the best in games and creating a fully fledged digital entertainment company,” House said of his work. “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.
“John and the team at SIE are world-class and I know the future of PlayStation is very bright,” House concluded.
“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 added.
“I intend to build on the amazing progress Andy has made enhancing the PlayStation brand and expanding the game and network services business, and will strive to further strengthen the unique value proposition we are able to offer via the PlayStation platform. I look forward to working together with the SIE team, and everyone across the Sony Group, to continue to strengthen relations with our business partners, and provide the best possible interactive entertainment experiences, that only PlayStation can deliver.”
Kodera has also been appointed Representative Director and President of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc., SIE’s Japan-based legal entity.
Kodera’s new role will find him taking overall operation responsibility of Sony Interactive Entertainment. He will report directly to Sony Corporation President and CEO, Kaz Hirai.
For those unfamiliar with the new CEO, here’s Sony’s outline of his career profile. Let’s just hope that this new guy is more open to ideas like say…. Cross-play with other consoles?
John Kodera
Mr. Kodera joined Sony Corporation in 1992, where he was first assigned to planning and control within Sony’s portable audio business. 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 IT products such as PCs. In 2010 he assumed the role of SVP, Corporate Strategy, at the newly established Sony Network Entertainment International LLC (SNEI), and in 2013 was appointed President, SNEI. Since then, Mr. Kodera has engaged in the launch and the enhancement of an array of network services via the PSN platform. These have included PlayStation Store, which sells the latest game titles, movies and TV shows; the PlayStation Plus subscription service offering members exclusive benefits and content; and the PlayStation Now online game streaming service. Mr. Kodera has also been integral to the launch of several other ground-breaking network services that have greatly enriched the PlayStation experience, including the PlayStation Vue cloud-based TV service, PlayStation Video content distribution service, and PlayStation Music, which leverages a global strategic partnership with Spotify to deliver a best-in-class digital music experience on PSN. Mr. Kodera has contributed significantly to growing this recurring revenue business. Furthermore, since his appointment as Deputy President of SIE last year, he has worked closely with Mr. House on the overall management of the game and network services business including product development, business strategy and system and network engineering.
