After three decades at the helm of Sony Interactive Worldwide Studios, Shawn Layden will be departing the company. The news suddenly broke this morning when the PlayStation Twitter account tweeted the announcement leaving everyone wondering what in the world went on. Shawn has become the face of not only PS4 but the PlayStation brand.
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[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#33FF00″ class=”” size=”19″]“It is with great emotion that we announce that Worldwide Studios Chairman Shawn Layden will be departing SIE. His visionary leadership will be greatly missed. We wish him success in future endeavours and are deeply grateful for his years of service. Thanks for everything, Shawn!”[/perfectpullquote]
Shawn began working at Sony as an assistant to founder Akio Morita and he worked up the ranks holding senior positions throughout the company. Shawn Layden was often on stage at E3 and during PS4 announcements. He was the man responsible for the purchase of Insomniac Games.
Of course, the departure has been used as a platform for PlayStation fans to voice the opinion in regards to the company’s censorship issues. Layden has been a driving force behind Sony’s strong stance on game censorship and fans are now begging for his replacement to revaluate the regulations especially on the upcoming PS5.
It is with great emotion that we announce that Worldwide Studios Chairman Shawn Layden will be departing SIE. His visionary leadership will be greatly missed. We wish him success in future endeavors and are deeply grateful for his years of service. Thanks for everything, Shawn!
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) September 30, 2019
Layden has yet to make any announcement himself and his work profiles don’t have any information on his departure. The only thing we have to go on is the tweet from Sony. Hopefully, we will learn more about this sudden resignation soon to get some more context surrounding the mystery.
With the PS5 launch on the horizon, losing the head of PlayStation is concerning. Could there be internal affairs taking place that are being covered up? We don’t know.
