Sony has officially hired a new boss of the whole company, and it’s none other than former PlayStation Europe chief Jim Ryan.
Ryan, who’s been Sony Interactive Entertainment’s vice president for about a year, will take over the new role on 1st April 2019.
In a statement Ryan said: “It’s a huge honour to be asked to take on the role of President and CEO of SIE,
“I’ve seen the PlayStation business grow and change massively since the very early days, and I hope to be able to put that experience to good use in reinforcing the foundations of the Game & Network Service business, and in evolving the entertainment that PlayStation offers to its engaged and passionate community.
“Working with John [Kodera] and the SIE team around the world, I am committed to strengthening relations with our business partners, and to continuing to provide the ultimate interactive entertainment experiences that make PlayStation the Best Place to Play.”
The staff change-up has caused a flicker of worry in the gaming community, as Ryan is well-known for his comments on backwards compatibility, a highly-requested feature that’s been rumoured to be included on the upcoming PlayStation 5.
Back in 2017 Ryan said to TIME: “When we’ve dabbled with backwards compatibility [on the PS4], I can say it is one of those features that is much requested, but not actually used much,”
“That, and I was at a Gran Turismo event recently where they had PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4 games, and the PS1 and the PS2 games, they looked ancient, like why would anybody play this?”
With a boss who’s apparently opposed to the concept of backwards compatibility, does that leave our dreams for the PS5 in the dust?
Good chance PS5 won’t have backwards compatibility. Microsoft is in a good position to smack Sony something fierce. https://t.co/a3PE614yZz
— Big Zero (@0perationZer0) February 12, 2019
Over on Twitter people have been weighing in on the debate with mixed opinions. Hopefully, the next-generation Sony console is already too far in development for Ryan’s views to halt the feature, but since we don’t have a solid release window for the PS5 it’s pretty hard to say.
@Sony @PlayStation just your semi-annual reminder that EVERYONE wants backwards compatibility and the longer it takes, the more people are going to make the switch to Xbox!
— James D. (@Jamesjt0311) February 12, 2019
Sony’s new boss is the exec that trolled backwards-compatibility. But…that’s a good thing. bc is contrary to the PlayStation ethos.
— Neo East (@neo_eastside) February 12, 2019
Sony has too much money to make selling 4K remasters, and even ‘ray masters’…games remade w/ ray tracing. Sony is in the game business not the service business, it’s not giving away bc.
— Neo East (@neo_eastside) February 12, 2019
Right now, backwards compatibility for the next PlayStation is yet to be confirmed or denied by the company.
Featured Image Credit: Sony