After the success of Horizon: Zero Dawn and a promising collaboration with Hideo Kojima on Death Stranding, Guerrilla Games’ Hermen Hulst will now lead PlayStation Worldwide Studios. The new position sees Hulst departing from Guerrilla Games, a studio he co-founded, to take over for beloved PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida.
Yoshida will now be tasked with assisting in development on games from smaller, independent teams. Hulst will immediately begin his role as the head of Worldwide Studios where he will manage 14 of the world’s biggest gaming developers such as Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games, and of course, Guerrilla Games.
As PlayStation begins gearing up to release the PlayStation 5 next holiday season, the gaming giant has been making all kinds of noise over the last few months. In August, Sony acquired Spider-Man developer Insomniac Games. In October, PlayStation’s Shawn Layden departed very abruptly. With all this restructuring, it seems Sony has a very particular goal in mind for the coming generation and they need specific people to help lead the charge.
“Hermen is one of the most effective and well-respected leaders in the video game industry. He is a passionate advocate for the teams he leads and understands how to empower creative talent to build great experiences. I have no doubt Hermen can lead our teams to deliver compelling and diverse experiences at a steady cadence,” said PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan to GamesIndustry.biz.
“I have worked closely with PlayStation and the entire Worldwide Studios family since 2001, and I have the utmost respect and admiration for the creative talent and ambitious ideas within the network of studios across the US, Europe, and Japan,” said Hulst.
As previously noted, former Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida will be stepping away from overseeing massive AAA games to indies. Sony is making sure that all kinds of games get the right amount of attention going into the new generation and that no one is undervalued.
“Everybody knows just how passionate Shu is about independent games — they are lifeblood of the industry, making our content portfolio so special for our gamers,” Ryan said. “These wildly creative experiences deserve focus, and a champion like Shu at PlayStation who will ensure the entire SIE organization works together to better engage with independent developers through a culture of supporting and celebrating their contributions to PlayStation platforms.”
