Sony's Phil Harrison resigns
- Posted February 25th, 2008 at 05:52 EDT by Mike Harradence
- 6,899 views
- 84 Comments
Phil Harrison, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS) has announced his resignation from the company, and will make his departure on February 29.
Harrison joined Sony Electronics Publishing Ltd (later Sony Computer Entertainment Europe) in 1992, and subsequently went on to play an integral role in the launch of four PlayStation platforms, in addition to his duties in building key relationships with a variety of industry publishers and developers across the globe.
It has been confirmed the current President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI), Kazuo Hirai, will assume responsibilities of Sony Worldwide Studios following Harrison’s departure.
“As one of the founding members of SCE, Phil played a key role in the development and growth of the PlayStation business and our industry,” Hirai commented.
“It is sad to see him departing from SCE, but I wish to express my gratitude for his many invaluable contributions and also wish Phil the very best of luck in his future endeavors.”
“The past 15 years at Sony Computer Entertainment has been the defining journey of my life so far”, offered Harrison.
“I am grateful to all the PlayStation family for their incredible support, guidance and friendship. It has been a privilege to serve as part of the team and be inspired by them on a daily basis. I am so proud of everything PlayStation has achieved and will continue to support its future in every way I can.”
Harrison’s future plans are currently unknown at this point.
Comments
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PS3-The Ultimate Machine
- 6:04am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 3
Say it isn't so.Phil was one of the MOST innovative and creative member of the ps brand,i just hope Kaz can exceed Phil's work or else this is gonna be a one h*ll of a bumpy ride for Sony.
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princevegeta1980
- 6:06am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 4
loosing somebody like phil looks very bad for sony, doe's his resignation have anything to do with his statement he made too SCEJ about thier lake of focus on social gaming for the ps3?
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CONFLICT__01 |
conflict01- 6:23am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 11
Not good ! ! ! Not good at all ! ! ! We (EU/UK) Already get shafted enougth as it is. This isnt going to make matters any better for us. Guess we wont be getting any new games worth a w*nk now untill 2010 at best, It's bad enougth we got to wait till 2009 for GT5, Looks like I better go and invest in some lube, this could get painfull ! ! !
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encryptioncsta |
csta- 7:13am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 17
F*** SAKE MAN!!! this really sucks phil is a great guy and i think sony need him...he will defos b missed
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incredibilistic
- 8:04am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 22
I SAID THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!!!! If you check the story where Phil talks about his frustration with the Japanese I mentioned that this was my worst fear.
However, this is one time I hate being right. This sucks so bad...this is HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE news. I'm almost speechless. For God's sakes don't let this guy go to MS or Nintendo. Hopefully he'll go work for a movie company or music studio or something. ANYTHING but work for a competitor. Another gaming company might be cool but please, not the competition. He'll crucify the PS3 and will know all of its weak points and strike.
Sony get Phil back pronto!!!!
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Ishimaru Kaito |
Kasu- 8:09am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 23
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! Not PHIL HARRISON. I liked him he was a great spokesmen for Sony why the sudden resign..... i wish him the best now
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Nille88
- 8:54am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 26
I hope they take in a younger person (why not a girl?) that can make Sony look younger and more fresh. Phil was awesome but i think a smart/innovative person around 20-30 would be good for Sony. New flesh, new ideas. A person that actually like to play games even on E3 and so on.
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Staticneuron |
Staticneuron- 9:10am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 27
I thought out of all the big players in the video gaming world, he had the most likable personality. Better than reggie, moore, allard and even kaz.
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Dark_Halo34 |
Dark_Halo34- 9:18am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 28
first Ken Kutargi and now him NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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GreyFox666 |
GreyFox666- 9:18am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 29
no man... you can't fvck1ng do this to us Phil.... oh lord.... i feel some bv11sh1t ready to happen...
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Zippie151 |
Sanguineous- 9:53am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 32
hmmm.. maybe 08 isnt goin to be so good after all. such a massive loss for sony and i hate to say it but sony must have deserved it for him to resign now. although maybe after the japanese business he felt he couldn't do much more, oh well gd luck phil!!!
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IONIXX |
IONIXX- 10:00am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 34
aww this is sad, i really liked phil, first ken now phil, who's next? :( oh well, all the best phil :), but to all u who are worried about him going to a competiter u have no worries :), read the end of the article, he (phil) said "i will continue to support the playstation brands future in any way i can" so he wont be going to a competiter :)
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Xdeth |
Xdeth- 10:14am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 36
As soon as I read the headline, I instantly thought about Phil's comments he made about SCEJ, just as many of you have said. Not a good way to kick off the year Sony... Phil Harrison was very good for PS3. Honestly I'm a little shocked at the moment. It doesn't even seem real.....
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unreal310 |
Loy310- 10:32am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 37
This is because of what he said about SCEJ the other day. Sony doesn’t really take likely to insults especially when it’s aimed at the Japanese division.
Sony was found by Japanese and in the end they are a loyal Japanese company, I believe their Mission Statement reads;
"Become the company most known for changing the worldwide poor-quality image of Japanese products"
I think it's that serious, kind of scary if you ask me. This above mission statement was made in the early days of course, I’m not sure if it has been changed since the company went global. -
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Redrider |
Warhawk1- 11:14am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 42
This is really, really, really bad........... IMO I don't think Phil would be caught dead doing something for MS or Nitty, so I would look for him to be working with a studio. Phil was a 15 year employee so the issues behind this move must go very deep. I wish Phil the very best no matter where he goes.
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Untildeath89 |
willmakenewonesoon- 11:18am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 43
i was starting to like him too bad. I dont get why people leave, its always someone who makes them wanna leave. How much of your free time can it take to mak speeches?
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DemonOfRazgriz89 |
DemonOfRazgriz07- 11:26am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 45
wow. i didn't see this coming either. really kinda sad... :(
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AclayPS3
- 11:54am GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 47
It really sucks that Phil is resigning, but I really don't think that Phil would Backstab Sony and start working for Microsoft. If Phil starts working for Nintendo on the Wii, I could really care less, but not Microsoft.
I just read an article online about Phil Harrison being shown a trailer of a "top secret" PS3 game that's supposed to come out in 2009 and the article was released just today ( Jan. 25th 2008) and in the article, Phil seemed to be blown away by the trailer that he was shown. But know Phil is resigning? I guess he wanted to take an early retirement or start his own business or something.
I really don't think that Phil is going to work for either Microsoft or Nintendo though.
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jphuff |
jhuff- 12:33pm GMT - February 25th, 2008
- 48
Well, this has been a long time coming. I said it was trouble when Home was delayed last year with Kaz saying he was unhappy with it. We've heard no comments from Phil since. There was some kind of corporate smackdown over Home and where it was at the time. That Kaz is taking over Phil's duties says a lot too. He's not ready to hand over the development end to anyone else at this time; he must have something personal that he's overseeing there.
Anyway, too bad. We probably will never know all the details but I hope Sony has made a good move in letting him go. Who knows? Maybe things have gotten stale so it will be good. If not.....bad bad news. Phil was a great spokeman and seemed to have a real feel for the pulse of gaming and development. We'll see!
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