PlayStation Worldwide Studios CEO Shawn Layden leaves Sony

Shawn Layden, the chairman of PlayStation Worldwide Studios, is leaving the company. It is unknown why he left. Layden has been with Sony for over thirty years and has spent the past few years at the helm of the company’s game studios.

Layden’s departure was announced through a Tweet on the PlayStation account. It says it’s an emotional goodbye. No further explanation is given on the departure of the chairman of the board. It is also not clear who will be Layden’s successor. Layden himself has not released anything and Sony does not provide a statement. Game website Polygon, among others, has asked for a response, but the Sony spokesperson says there is no further information.

Shawn Layden is 58 years old and has been with Sony since 1987. He started his work as an assistant to Sony founder Akio Morita and worked his way up to senior positions. In 2014, for example, he became the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, the American PlayStation division.

As chairman of PlayStation Worldwide Studios, Layden oversaw the studios that make PlayStation games such as God of War, The Last of Us and Horizon Zero Dawn in recent years. He was also at the helm of PlayStation Productions, the new film studio that Sony founded earlier this year for the filming of PlayStation games.

God of War