The man primarily responsible for the PSP, PS3, and PS4, and a key Sony executive, is to retire after decades at the company.
Although Mark Cerny is the most famous of Sony’s hardware designers he’s obviously not the only one involved in their creation, with Masayasu Ito being central to the design of the hardware and system software for the PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4.
He’s not someone most gamers have probably heard of but at 60 years old he’s decided to retire and will be leaving Sony, and his executive positions of representative director and executive vice president, next month.
He started off his career at PlayStation making peripherals for the PlayStation 1 and 2, including LCD monitors for the PSone, before leading developing on the PSP in the early 2000s.
Ito also oversaw the hardware and system software design for both the PlayStation 3 and 4, as well as being heavily involved in the creation of the PlayStation VR headset and the PlayStation 5.
His career with Sony began in 1986, when he worked on in-car audio equipment, so that means he will have been at the company for 36 years when he leaves.
Current director and deputy president Lin Tao will replace Ito when he leaves in October, although it’s assumed Cerny will remain as system architect for the inevitable PlayStation 6.
Traditionally, companies begin designing the next console as soon as the current one launches, but the release of the PlayStation 5 during the pandemic makes it unclear whether that has happened yet.
Naturally, Sony won’t say anything about future hardware for several years yet, but despite the increasing potential of cloud gaming there’s still likely to be a need for a new generation of hardware after the current one.
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