Jack Tretton, former President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), has spoken for the first time since resigning from his post with the electronics giant back in March.
Chatting with GI.biz, Tretton, who is now working at Genotaur, described the PlayStation 4 as Sony’s ‘great redemption’ as he reflects on his 19 years with the console maker.
"I did want to go out on top. I feel really good about where I left PlayStation with PS4 and I wish them the best of luck going forward," said Tretton.
"I spent 19 years with Sony and enjoyed it very much, but my original plan was three years and it just continued to get extended as the company was successful and I was successful. It just got to the point, especially with the success of PlayStation 4, that I'd done just about everything I could for them and I really wanted an opportunity to be more of a free agent as opposed to being dedicated to one platform and one company.
"It was really to have an opportunity to branch out into any form of entertainment or consumer products, and specifically in gaming to get more involved in different platforms and get involved in technology. That's where Genotaur came in, which is a great opportunity to work with some incredibly smart people and some great technology that ultimately will create an engine that's going to improve gaming for all platforms and all developers around the world if things go according to plan."
While admitting that he’s spent little time getting nostalgic over his former job since his resignation, Tretton was able to share a few highlights from his illustrious career.
The high point was that it was great to be part of establishing the PlayStation brand and really going into a very competitive market with Nintendo and Sega really splitting the market, and Sony having zero shelf space and very limited heritage in gaming to ultimately establishing that brand and bringing them to a leadership position. The most challenging time I think was establishing PlayStation 3 and establishing Blu-ray technology and the financial challenges that went along with the PS3. But that's where PlayStation 4 was such a great redemption. Figuring everything out and making that platform such a success quite frankly contributed to me being more comfortable with getting on to the rest of my career.”
We’ll miss you at E3 that’s for sure, Jack. Still, at least he's going to appear on SpikeTV for some post-show gossip, eh?
Share your favorite Tretton moments in the comments section below.
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