PlayStation's Jim Ryan Named Among 500 Most Influential Global Media Business Leaders

Jim Ryan, the CEO of PlayStation, has been named by Variety as one of the top 500 “most influential business leaders shaping the global media industry”. The British born executive – who also featured in the 2020 and 2021 incarnations of the same list – is credited for completing the acquisition of Bungie, which will give Sony “live service ammo”.

[Orchard]

Him and every other leader in gaming apparently. Nintendo, Microsoft, EA, Epic, Valve, Take2 etc all won the honor too.

I think Jim Ryan is a good leader of PS for Sony as a corporation, but less so for us as gamers. Not a patch on the past leaders of PS.

[purple101]

No Phill Spencer?

[Orchard]

Just checked, Microsoft has Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, Satya Nadella

Full gaming list:

https://variety.com/v500-se...

EDIT: Lol Bobby K is on page 2... that guy shouldn't be receiving any awards at all. Ever.

[SoulWarrior]

'I think Jim Ryan is a good leader of PS for Sony as a corporation, but less so for us as gamers. Not a patch on the past leaders of PS.'

For once I agree with you lol. Tretton and Layden were great, Jim comes across as very corporate to me.

[CrimsonWing69]

He’s 100% corporate. Look at all his business decisions and flip-flopping. Trenton and Layden felt like they actually had their fingers on the pulse of their consumers. Jim Ryan is giving us Remakes of last-gen games, not delivering for PS+ Premium subscribers on any new classics with trophy support, PC ports is his big shift, looking into GaaS games for the future, sticking to cross-gen for waaaaay longer than we should be. It just all feels less about the passion of gaming and more on what can get the company more money from without taking the same risks as before.

This generation has been going for over 2 years and I just don’t feel like there’s been much to show for it under Ryan’s rule. Yea, he’s great for the company, but I feel Tretton and Layden balanced it between business and fans way better.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Same soul warrior. He delivered during a pandemic. He just gets bashed for not being gamer's best friend. Yeah. We all liked Trenton and Layden. But Jim still did his job. Some of these gamers act like those two were their friends. They were CEO executives too. Phil is friendly. But he hasn't delivered for over a whole generation but the same 3-4 franchises. Friendly isn't always better.

Jim delivered the console. He delivered games at launch. He delivered games after launch. Some only exclusive to PS5. He delivered AAA games, 3rd Party support and Indies. Delivered an innovative controller. He's about to deliver "high fidelity VR" compared to others who just talk about delivering it then cancel it. But seem to have billions of dollars to spare to buy up publishers. He delivered Plus tiers for those that want to play online and get a little extra.

Is he perfect? No. But he's delivering more in gaming and innovative tech as the market leader than any of the other two console manufacturers. Under his watch, we'll get Spider-Man 2, Wolverine, Final Fantasy etc.

Does it suck we're not full speed ahead on current generation games and some built on UE5? Sure. But he has more positives than negatives in a post pandemic economy. That's just the truth.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Doesn't matter what people think. Disagree.

When Ken Kutaragi delivered many games and over 100 million PlayStation systems, or when Kaz Harai delivered games and over 150 million PS2 systems, these guys weren't your friends. They aren't going to invite any of you to a backyard BBQ.

How many of you are friendly with the person who sold you a new car, TV or house? Most of you have no connection to these people. But act like they need to be gamers. Phil's a gamer. What has he delivered?

[blackblades]

I agree apoc

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I really don't like what Him Ryan has done with the Playstation brand since taking over, he's snubbed alot of Japanese developers (to think we've missed out on a new Wild Arms or Shadow Hearts, but at least got spiritual successors via kickstarter). I also feel that the PS Plus tiers are a bit of a fumble on his part (should have been two tiers), especially when we were promised classic PS games and we haven't gotten many classics to date. I'm indifferent to the PC support, although I'd rather buy the games there personally rather than on a console, so it actually works better for me in the end.

I don't blame him for the cross gen though, we are living through abnormally times, I won't be surprised if this gen lasts longer than originally planned considering how the pandemic wreaked havoc on supply lines.

Objectively, I think he's been a mixed bag for Sony overall, on the bright side, at least I haven't had much reason to part with my money in exchange for a PS5 yet.

[purple101]

Haha. Okay. Herman hulst is mentioned too.

I thought there would be a top 100list
But alas, it's not numbered or ordered. (I don't think)

[Rimeskeem]

Tbh, didn't know there was more than 500.

[CrimsonWing69]

LMAO

[rippermcrip]

Is this site going to turn 1 Variety list into 10 different articles? There are many more gaming people on that list.

[Locutus_of_borg]

No Michael Patchter on that list... im dissapointed :)

[purple101]

Good comment. I like it.

& Where's Kevin butler? Sony adverts not the same since he left.

[Auron]

Why?

[Old_Prodigy]

Stop the 🧢