Guerrilla Games' Hermen Hulst is PlayStation's new head of Worldwide Studios

From Gameindustry.biz: "PlayStation has named Guerrilla Games managing director and co-founder Hermen Hulst as its new head of Worldwide Studios.

He starts the role immediately and will manage all of Sony's game development across its 14 internal studios.

Meanwhile, Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida will leave his current role to lead a new initiative that will look after and nurture external, smaller independent studios."

[Nyxus]

Didn't see that coming. Good luck to Hermen!

[robtion]

Seems like a good choice. From interviews I've seen he seems like a very clever guy who is passionate about games.

[bouzebbal]

Wow he's a cool guy.. Better at communicating and less nerd than Yoshida.
Also better to have a non jap at this position since the west is leading the way for games.. And Yoshida recruiting and doing some kind of market screening for talented studios is a much better fit.. Promising..

Can anyone tell me who takes over as NA CEO? And who is taking over Jim Ryan as Europe CEO? I feel like I missed an episode here.. I know the British guy (forgot his name) was PS CEO and was replaced by a Japanese guy..

[Rimeskeem]

Given that Horizon was made on his watch I am excited to see how he influences other Sony studios.

[VenomUK]

Wow - this is major news. Congratulations to Hermen Hulst, he now has the major position that Shawn Layden had and I wonder if it is significant that Jim Ryan describes him as 'a European'.

I do hope Shuhei Yoshida's move to indie teams is not a demotion. For so long Yoshida has been one of the few faces of PlayStation giving interviews and talking about games and passionately pushing PSVR. The positive sign is that he will be reporting directly to Jim Ryan who says about him and indie games:

"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."

[sprinterboy]

Yeah the interview with him and druckmann was great.

[VenomUK]

Former Sony man turned developer Shahid Kamal Ahmad says the Yosp move is a fantastic decision "Appointing @yosp to this new role is the most incredible move in developer engagement I’ve seen in years. Well done PlayStation and Yoshida-san."

https://twitter.com/shahidk...

[TheKingKratos]

From the article on Playstation Now :

"It's an area that is fast changing and fluid," notes Ryan. "The nature and scale of some of the first-party games that we are making leads us to think that, right now, it's better to spend energy on making sure that the launch of those games is a massive entertainment event. I would cite God of War and Spider-Man, and The Last of Us 2 next year will fall into that category
"That's where we stand right now. But our stance on the inclusion of first-party games in PlayStation Now in terms of what we've done this month is very different to our stance 12 months ago. I don't want to say this is what PlayStation Now is going to be like forever. But certainly right now, given how some of our first party IP is incredibly special and valuable, we just want to treat them with amazing care and respect, and have those launches be clean and pure."

That's good to hear

[darthv72]

with a name like Hulst, i wonder if it was any inspiration for Helgast?

[UltraNova]

Sony seems to be in the midst of a huge restructuring...

That said, Hermen is a great choice, he knows his stuff, he is smart and super passionate. Wish him good luck.

[Jin_Sakai]

Interesting.

“The changes are part of Sony Interactive Entertainment's restructuring ahead of the launch of PS5. It also comes a month after the departure of Worldwide Studios Chairman Shawn Layden.”

He’s been with Sony for 14 years and is very intelligent and passionate about games. He seems like a great person for the job.

[GaboonViper]

Awesome news fam, i've always like Hulst, great guy.

[Christopher]

I'm going to assume that not only his management of GG but also how he got Kojima involved with Playstation probably has a bit to do with this decision. He's definitely interested in supporting other developers and giving them a home at Sony, even if it's as a third-party exclusive partner.

[LaFleur]

Wow! What a pleasant surprise. Thoroughly deserved. Hermen Hulst has done incredible work at Guerrilla Games.

[purple101]

Killzone is COMMING

[purple101]

Killzone 5 incomming

[solideagle]

they have to release Killzone 4 first as shadowfall was not numbered

[CrimsonPheonix]

this has nothing to do with Killzone fool

[Knushwood Butt]

This with Shu nurturing the indies sounds like a great combination.

[The Wood]

I don't think people understand the importance of this. Can you imagine the pull Shu would be visiting indies and showing interest in their projects. Many indies grow to become big players. Some are great as they are.......Go forth and snag em Shu

[Ninver]

"Gotta catch em all"

[SyntheticForm]

That's awesome.

I've always liked him.

Good luck, Herm.

[Segata]

He looks like a bond villian

[WickedLester]

To the competition, every Sony exec is a Bond villain.

[The Wood]

lol... Double True

[rainslacker]

Naaa... sony is better at killing their competition than any bond villain could be

[WickedLester]

@rainslacker

Good point!

[sprinterboy]

Gotta love his dress sense hehe.

[GaboonViper]

I remember when he strutted out at E3 to announce HZD.

[sprinterboy]

Them trousers though lol

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

Congrats to Herman - I'm sure he will excell in his new role. The man has always conducted himself confidence and class - Sony and Guerilla are lucky to have him.

[FallenAngel1984]

Hope he’s as charismatic as Shu

[SyntheticForm]

He's always been very friendly in interviews and you could tell he was passionate. Hermen is a great pick for this role.

[Rimeskeem]

It makes sense to have one of the most experienced first party directors and co-founder as the head of all studios. It's basically just making the head of all other internal studios someone who came from one and will likely know do well in the position because he knows what it's like working in an internal studio.

[IRetrouk]

Surprising, but he knows how to crank out quality, gonna miss shu and his constantly smiley face though, really like that fella. I'd say the ps5 is in good hands.

[Sevir]

Shus gonna be around. You'll see Shu introducing indie talent and games exclusive to PS and PS VR at the stage shows and he's all over Twitter so he's still very public and still down to earth. I'd definitely want Shu dealing with Indies, Indies was what brought us Marvel's Spider-Man and Crash bandicoot who eventually became first party. Indies like Media Molecule became first party. With any luck, Shu will snatch up some of these fresh talent, nuture cultivate them into the next NaughtyDog, GG Sony Santa Monica, and Sucker Punch

[IRetrouk]

I hope so!! Shu does suit that role, without a doubt, I'm looking forward to seeing what's next

[zodiac909]

WOW that's one HELL of a step up. Seeing that he's been with playstation for quite sometime, it seems like quite a good fit, rather than some random person that no one has heard of. He's got a good and confident personality. Hope he does well! That also explains the twitter pic Shawn Layden posted with him about a month or 2 back, of both of them on a boat in Italy.

[zodiac909]

But Shuhei Stepping down QUIETLY shoved into the article?? Literally there is no recognizable, traditional faces in leading rolls anymore at Playstation..First Jack Tretton, then Andrew House, Shawn Layden, and now Shuhei...What is happening??!

[sprinterboy]

It happens at the start of every gen, its called keeping things fresh and new.

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

Shuhei is going into a more of a mentor role - he has a good eye for games and his input will be very welcomed by indie devs.

It's about strengthening all of PlayStations game releases.

[Mr Marvel]

Who cares?! ... as long as Sony keep pumping out the best first party games, I’ll be happy.

[Ceaser9857361]

Spicyram.

OH YOU WIsh.. AND Then as always you will disappointed and salty later.

[The Wood]

All the names you mentioned started at different times and were unrecognisable once. The culture is what they adhered to not the culture adhering to them. There will be changes or evolution as times change so sometimes is smart to envelop people who are closer to the climate. I'm not implying fly too close to the sun like what was attempted at the start of this gen by you know who either. You need balance. Its that balance that made a big difference this gen. Sony are not resting on their laurels.

[TheGamez100]

@xX-oldboy-Xx
Tbh there werent much games I personally liked that he really praised and some that he overhyped. He was also the one that really hated demons souls back on the ps3 and thought it had no potential lol. But hes definitely learned from that and gives many games a chance and became a great face of playstation. He will be missed.

[deadfrag]

It seems we can expect Décima engine to be used by other major Sony Studios.Most likely this game engine is going to BE Sony main engine going forward.Congratulations to Herman he deserves!

[Araragifeels]

I don't think SIE Studios would like to change their own engine unless easier than their. But I can see Sony Bend using Decimal engine since they don't have their own engine yet and they did struggle using Unreal Engine.

[sprinterboy]

Didn't see that coming either but that's a great move tbh, single player going fwd I can now sleep alittle better knowing this.

[Hedstrom]

A nice guy Herman!

[jjb1981]

I like this guy. He's very creative and shows his passion for games. Good choice Sony.

[sprinterboy]

Yoshida, indie and VR will go hand in hand.
Looking fwd to the VR indie games moving fwd and no doubt will help devs with psvr 1 and psvr2 support?

[AshleeEmerson]

Yes, I completely agree with this

[Pedantic91]

Less content from Sony Japan Studios shouldn't be seen as a positive

[MrVux000]

I mean Hulst has built really positive reputation in GG, but i must admit i didn't see this coming.

Best of luck to him!

[Smokehouse]

Interesting choice. It’s always good when an actual developer is charge of studios on a suit level.

[Yi-Long]

Congratulations.

I hope, as a fellow Dutchman, that he'll push for developers to always include the original language on all their releases as an option (We don't really care much for dubs here in Holland, and usually prefer the original language, regardless of what that language might be), as well as cut back on the censorship-practices Sony has been guilty of these past few years.

[XxSPIDEYxX]

Been a fan of Hermen and GG since the PS2, very happy to hear he's getting a nice deserved promotion. He's going to have a lot on his plate.

[Einhander1971]

Some one who has real experience in the industry. Good luck Herman.

[Veneno]

That's so cool! Go Nederlands!

[HighPlayer28]

Seems like a lot of Europeans are taking over PS next gen plans.

[PlayableGamez-]

This rapid change in PS leadership has me concerned.

[BlaqMagiq1]

Good luck to him. I know he will do great things.

[bumbleforce]

Wait. So the guy who has been behind the studio who has delivered bad game after bad game since ps2 up until horizion is now in charge? Ok

[Mr Marvel]

Great news, I’m sure he’ll do an awesome job.

Now the other GG related news I need... Horizon 2, sequel to my favourite game this gen.

[S2Killinit]

Very interesting. I gotta say i didnt think you can rise from head of one studio to head of WWS.

[Ceaser9857361]

Damn! Didnt see that coming.. Mother of Promotion... Congrats Hermen...

[StormLegend]

Yes! The guy. Who created Horizon Zero Dawn is always welcome.

[FyBy]

Wow, didnt expect that!

[Donnie81]

Congratulations to him! He helped found a great studio in Guerrilla Games I’m sure he will lead the brand very well into the future

[P_Bomb]

Didn’t see that coming! Congrats to Double H.

[THC CELL]

Great choice