While everyone knew that Kazuo Hirai will be leaving Sony Computer Entertainment full time to take up the President and CEO positions of Sony Corporation for quite some time, Sony did officially confirm his departure as Representative Director and Chairman of SCE. He will still remain on the board, but in a part time position, reducing his work load with SCE and, in effect, the Playstation brand. A new chairman has not been announced at this time.
This isn’t a surprise as Hirai was appointed President and CEO of Sony Corporation on April 1 and, with the troubles Sony is facing at the moment, Hirai would require his full attention to bring the electronic giant back in the black. Hirai came from Sony Computer Entertainment and helped the Playstation brand to become the mammoth brand it is today, so his decreased presence will surely be felt. With that said, Hirai does have plans to use the Playstation brand to help the company as a whole.