PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan's reign ends this week!

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/playstation-has-released-a-jim-ryan-digital-bobblehead-to-celebrate-his-career/

A digital Jim Ryan bobblehead has been released to celebrate his career at PlayStation.

The collectible, which has been released through Sony‘s digital platform PlayStation Stars, can be obtained by playing a game that Ryan “championed” during his time at the company.

“Help us celebrate Jim Ryan’s 30 years at PlayStation by playing any one of the many impressive games he championed as CEO and get a special Digital Collectible. Happy retirement, Jim!” reads the description for the item.

The eligible games are Gran Turismo 7, Marvel’s Spider-man 2, God of War Ragnarok, The Last of Us Part 2, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Destiny 2.

Sony announced in September that Ryan had made the decision to retire in March 2024 after almost thirty years with the PlayStation business.

In his own statement, Ryan cited difficulties juggling his home life in Europe and work responsibilities in North America.

“After 30 years, I have made the decision to retire from SIE in March 2024,” he said. “I’ve relished the opportunity to have a job I love in a very special company, working with great people and incredible partners. But I’ve found it increasingly difficult to reconcile living in Europe and working in North America.

“I will leave having been privileged to work on products that have touched millions of lives across the world; PlayStation will always be part of my life, and I feel more optimistic than ever about the future of SIE. I want to thank Yoshida-san for placing so much trust in me and being an incredibly sensitive and supportive leader.”

Ryan has overseen the PlayStation business since 2019, including the launch of the PS5.

The British exec has worked at Sony’s PlayStation division for nearly 20 years, and previously served as the boss of SIE’s European business and its head of global marketing.

What are your thoughts on Jim Ryan, SW? Did you like him as PlayStation CEO? I thought previous CEOS Shawn Layden and Jack Tretton did a better job of connecting with the fans. It also seemed like PlayStation was too focused on the West and big budget AAA games during his time. Would like to see Sony invest in a variety of games again. Other than that, I give Ryan credit for steering PS5 during the pandemic and still selling well despite the supply chain issues.

Let's see how the new guy does now with things the way they are.

A digital bobble head. 😂

Good riddance. Him saying "why would people want to play this?", in reference to old PlayStation games is something I will always remember him for. https://www.vg247.com/why-would-anybody-play-this-says-sonys-jim-ryan-about-backwards-compatibility#:~:text=Sony%27s%20head%20of%20global%20sales,used%20much%2C%22%20said%20Ryan.

I will buy his Bobblehead to burn it. The absolute worse Sony has seen.

Now please be hired by MS.

I don't think the big budget AAA games were the problem. Over the last few years we've seen Sony begin to lean into a live service approach. The purchase of Bungie has been a disaster. Naughty Dog was pushed out of its element. Sony thrived on single-player games but it really seems like they started to chase an identity that wasn't what made them successful in the first place.

I'm glad he's leaving and I'm curious to see what the future looks like.

Jim Ryan was a pretty large success for the brand, but he made some terrible decisions like bringing Sony to California was one of them. Still, he continued and expanded PS4/5 dominance in consoles, but still bad choices he made.

As a gamer, looking at it all, he's been more middle-of-the-road for a Businessman. Whoever is going to be the new CEO, I just hope that person takes Sony out of California and goes back to Japan cause that's the real Sony I know and like.

I often don't blame an entire brand's downfall on a single individual as a lot of these decisions do not fall solely on one person (depends on who you ask of course) but Jim Ryan as a public figure has done everything to inspire doubts and distrust in Sony. Every time I read an interview with Jim, he comes off as incredibly arrogant and somewhat disrespectful of the legacy he inherited.

Crazy to think Cows were worshipping this Clown Cow so much. These cows will really bend over for anything Sony does.

@SolidGame_basic: O great, it was the Clown in charge of the Sony phones.

Goodbye:

Sony Projects Launching 12 Live Service Games By 2025 - GameSpot

A distinguished career... He led them ferociously towards the red.... Lol

It's a shame we're going through this blip in time where we reject so many bad live service games just to get back on track with focused single player experiences. I'm sure Jim Ryan wishes the old days were here....

Let's be honest here, a monkey could run PS and it would still sell. PS is a cult at this point. Sony has no games for nearly 2yrs and the PS5 is still selling like hot cakes, if that's not cult like then what is.

At least he didn't abandon physical like your boy Phil

@SolidGame_basic: Notice how I never mentioned any names, but you felt aggrieved like I was talking about you personally. You out yourself every time Solid.

You know full well Phil is not "my boy" and yet you still say it like you're going to hurt my feelings (because you're aggrieved) but you can't.

You are not an advocate for physical when you buy digital games, you're a fakeboy physical media warrior, the worst of them all, because we ALL know if Sony went digital only tomorrow you would still buy their games like the good little indoctrinated boy that you are.

Is there anything else I can help you with Solid while you have my attention?

?

Since when did Last_Lap actually likes the man?

@davillain: being sarcastic lol

Glad he’s leaving. He looks and sounds like a tool. Probably smells funny as well.

Well, Xbox bend the knee to PlayStation under him.

I buy both. I’m for options 😎

Did a great job. Worst Sony generation by far but sells consoles like hot cakes.

Yeah but those people are buying a paper tiger. They're hoping it becomes the Sony console they're used to seeing, but that ain't happening this generation.

In the last three years alone, Sony with Jim Ryan at the helm went from 12% profits. Down to 9% and this year was at 6%. Unless Sony has a major turn around or finds a new revenue source they will be unprofitable in two years based on trends.

As stated thousand and thousands of times.... They make zero money on selling a console. It's only install base. When they deliver sub par games far and few between releases they are losing millions and millions of dollars that are not helping them keep up.

@SolidGame_basic: No you're a fakeboy. You've made a ton of physical media threads, and beating your chest about physical, but buy digital when physical is not an option, I on the otherhand will skip a game entirely if it's digital only. I have conviction you don't. If Sony were to sell digital only tomorrow you would still buy their ganes, I on the other hand wouldn't if MS did the same.

And the I like to have options part, well the more you buy digitally the less physical media gets sold and then physical stops becoming an option. Someone who's for physical would know that.

#physicslfakeboy

@davillain: He's trying to hurt my feelings, because he has no rebuttal 🤣

I made a post about no one person in particular and he felt aggrieved by it and replied to me directly. Poor lad has no game though 🤦‍♂️

Good on you for skipping a game entirely. I’ve always said I prefer options! Also, not only do I buy physical games, but also collect physical collectibles and memorabilia. I’m physical certified 😎

Good riddance to trash.

This isn't about you buying physical games for the dolls that come with them. This is about someone who swears black n blue that they're about physical but has no conviction in that.

You're only "physical certified" when its available, and digital certified when physical is not available.

Can't even burn it..

It's "digital only" bobble head lol

This guy ******* sucked, I haven't cared for PS at all since he's been in charge.

Don't even like the 3rd person movie games cows always gush over, most of them suck, I enjoyed Spiderman for the transversal, GoW, Horizon, LoU, Uncharted, all suck

Hopefully whoever the new person is actually pushes for games with fun gameplay and not overly cinematic poop

What... Like Phil and EVERYONE ELSE on the PC? :-S

@HalcyonScarlet: Hermits were dumb to give all their rights away. Phil wants all digital just as Sony does, they will rake in 100% of the money and restrict how you use the game you paid for.

I keep hearing gamers say they like options, but don't walk the walk, just talk the talk. Physical is going away slowly, and if it does become all digital, Sony and MS will create monopolies on where games on their platform are bought and it will be only their marketplaces. Sony is already trying to enforce this and are currently being taken to court over it.

I think anyone who truly thinks a digital only future is a good future has rocks in their head.

I haven't had an ounce of interest in the PlayStation when he's been in charge, so I guess he sucked. Don't know anything more about him.

Btw, wtf does "championed games as CEO" mean? What did he do? Cheer on the devs?

Remember the cows GIFs of good old Jim the liar portraying him as king when they thought he had stopped the ABK deal 😂🤣

Now playstations biggest games are Xbox studios...one of playstations biggest publisher's are Xbox studios... playstation is now multiplat and has no first party roadmap going forward.

And they think they are winning 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

So if the Xbox Brooklyn is indeed all digital, are you done with Xbox? Will you join Team Sony??

Brooklyn is all digital, and I won't be buying it. It's as simple as that, not I wouldn't buy a PS5, as people who visit the lounge on a regular basis knows i've been buying retro and play retro a lot these days. Now answer my question, if Sony's next console was only digital would you still buy it?

lol :P

Think Jim's last year or so as CEO was a disaster announcing live service then cancelling half the projects. Now no first party sequels until 1st quarter of 2025.

Gaming is so reliant on the internet, physical media is practically redundant. It's gotten to the point where in a lot of cases only the base game is on the disc. You still need to download tens of GBs of updates and a ton of the games are dlc. And you need to install the game. It's just so pointless imo.

I don't think many have any issues with digital on the PC. And realistically, no one wants to by a blue ray drive just for gaming.

And people can complain about Xbox going digital, but out of Sony, Nintendo and MS, I personally trust MS more when it comes to digital. So far they've gone the furthest to make sure your content carries over and is compatible, even improved in many cases. Compatibility is a bit of an after thought for Sony. And I really don't know about Nintendo. They've been SO slow to progress their online systems compared to the others. It doesn't instil confidence. Maybe that's changed idk.

As for rights, so far MS has been pretty good with those I think.

I'm pretty confident in Xbox, Steam and GoG off the top of my head. So if any of the consoles are going to go digital, MS doing it is the least concerning to me.

Nintendo is the only company I appreciate having physical, because their products still hold collectors value.

I'd share your point of view if gaming was like it used to be, when games were more like whole products. But it hasn't been like that since the 7th gen. When being online was more of a choice. To me, physical games is just a distribution method on non Nintendo consoles.

I said 7th gen, but to me, physical games hasn't been meaningful since the 5th gen (6th gen is okay, but it's not my favourite gen). Now it's a cheap disc, in a cheap case, with a few inlet bits of paper. There's not even much resale collectors value for them any more. I just don't feel good or excited by physical games any more outside of Nintendo platforms.

If I see a PS4/5 or Xbox game on a shelf, it just looks cheap to me now. Man, I used love physical games, especially on 4th and 5th gen consoles.

At the same time, I'll give you one thing about digital distribution that's a negative imo. I miss going out to buy and rent films, music and games. While that sounds contradictory, I'm an all or nothing person. I don't like how physical games are half in/half out now. Physical, but still reliant on the internet.

So in that vein, if you asked me if we could go back to gaming with ZERO use of the internet, I'd be 100% behind physical gaming. There was a joy in going to the shops and hunting down something you really wanted. The other day, I really wanted to go out and rent a movie. I miss that shit. I've never not had good memories about renting entertainment media physically.

@HalcyonScarlet: There was a joy of browsing a store for a game to purchase or rent. The same has not been achieved with digital and that is where the "advantage" ends. Some gamers forget that gaming is entertainment, not a lifestyle.🙃

Yup 👍

It would not be all digital, as Sony is in a lot of markets where internet is no good. Also, Japan still likes physical media.

But as I said, I'm supportive of both formats. If the industry ends up going all digital, that will be a sad fact I have to live with. I wouldn't stick to retro only just because of it. That wouldn't help, now would it? REKT

@SolidGame_basic: Like I said you have no conviction, when Sony goes full digital you will happily stick with them.

The only conviction you have is to the church of Sony, I mean you've been here for 20yrs defending them.

Well this is certainly a grand, huge, and earth-shattering thing to happen. And I have very important news to share with you all: this will either change everything, change nothing...or change things to one degree or another. I HAVE SPOKEN!