I was a bit skeptical of Totoki's decision to name co-CEOs as I've worked in companies that have done co-CEOs and I've seen that in most cases it doesn't work well.
That being said, it seems to be working really well so far. Only caveat being that obviously things are in early days, but I feel like Sony has an urgency and direction that they didn't necessarily have in recent years.
It's been less than a year since they were named co-CEOs and less than half a year since they've officially been in the roles, but it's clear that the new found powers that they have respectively has allowed them to advance their business groups.
Hulst - The attempt at purchasing Kadokawa will almost certainly have been driven by SIE, regardless of people's agenda against the man himself or the idea that he was somehow anti-Japan. To steal a meme, this is a career defining move for Herrmen. The purchases of Bluepoint and Nixxes which he would have been involved in I think play a large part in the strategy around acquiring FromSoftware via Kadokawa.
Under Hermen's leadership, Sony has a decent chance at winning GOTY with Astro Bot and delivered one of their best selling games of all time in Helldivers 2.
Nishino - From the PS Portal getting a cloud beta right before the holidays, I think is a prime example of Nishino's leadership. I think Jim Ryan would have waited until the product was ready to go, but Nishino I think understands the playerbase and the technology a little bit more. As a result we're seeing the PS Portal selling tremendously on Amazon and it's currently available by invitation only on Amazon Japan.
Sony is likely going to have a record quarter due to the launch of the PS5 Pro, the anniversary edition PlayStation lineup, the disc drive, vertical stand for the Pro, and now the PS Portal combined with this discounted PS+ cloud pricing for new users. That's going to look really good for Nishino.
I think the two of them are positioned to drive their business groups but also compete with one another. Right now I think Nishino has a clear lead, but that's also a good thing. It means that the Studio Business group needs to do more to impress. Hulst might get the nod if Sony is able to close out a deal with Kadokawa. I think everyone is focused on Sony competing with Microsoft, they've overlooked that Sony now essentially has two PlayStation divisions that will probably compete with each other to what is hopefully/ultimately the benefit of consumers.
That being said, it seems to be working really well so far. Only caveat being that obviously things are in early days, but I feel like Sony has an urgency and direction that they didn't necessarily have in recent years.
It's been less than a year since they were named co-CEOs and less than half a year since they've officially been in the roles, but it's clear that the new found powers that they have respectively has allowed them to advance their business groups.
Hulst - The attempt at purchasing Kadokawa will almost certainly have been driven by SIE, regardless of people's agenda against the man himself or the idea that he was somehow anti-Japan. To steal a meme, this is a career defining move for Herrmen. The purchases of Bluepoint and Nixxes which he would have been involved in I think play a large part in the strategy around acquiring FromSoftware via Kadokawa.
Under Hermen's leadership, Sony has a decent chance at winning GOTY with Astro Bot and delivered one of their best selling games of all time in Helldivers 2.
Nishino - From the PS Portal getting a cloud beta right before the holidays, I think is a prime example of Nishino's leadership. I think Jim Ryan would have waited until the product was ready to go, but Nishino I think understands the playerbase and the technology a little bit more. As a result we're seeing the PS Portal selling tremendously on Amazon and it's currently available by invitation only on Amazon Japan.
Sony is likely going to have a record quarter due to the launch of the PS5 Pro, the anniversary edition PlayStation lineup, the disc drive, vertical stand for the Pro, and now the PS Portal combined with this discounted PS+ cloud pricing for new users. That's going to look really good for Nishino.
I think the two of them are positioned to drive their business groups but also compete with one another. Right now I think Nishino has a clear lead, but that's also a good thing. It means that the Studio Business group needs to do more to impress. Hulst might get the nod if Sony is able to close out a deal with Kadokawa. I think everyone is focused on Sony competing with Microsoft, they've overlooked that Sony now essentially has two PlayStation divisions that will probably compete with each other to what is hopefully/ultimately the benefit of consumers.
