Sony's game unit president and CEO, Ken Kutaragi, known as the "father of the PlayStation," will become chairman on Friday while retaining his post as chief exec. Sony Computer Entertainment, which earlier this month launched its latest game console, PlayStation 3, said Kazuo Hirai, head of its U.S. operations, will become president and fill the vacant chief operating officer's position.
The PS3 went on sale on Nov. 11 in Japan and Nov. 17 in North America, going into battle with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's new Wii.
Sony, which has dominated the video game industry over the past decade, has packed the PS3 with its latest technology including the Blu-ray high-definition DVD player and the Cell chip, dubbed a "supercomputer on a chip."
But these advanced functions don't come cheap. Sony is expected to rack up a loss for every PS3 it sells, and it forecasts an operating loss of $1.7 billion at its game unit for the fiscal year that ends in March.
The PS3 launch has not been smooth sailing for Kutaragi, who was forced to postpone the European launch by four months to March due to a production glitch.
"At Sony, titles like CEO and COO carry more weight than president and chairman. So this probably does not mean Kutaragi is stepping out of the front line. He is still at the helm," Daiwa Institute of Research analyst Kazuharu Miura said.
Sony Computer Entertainment also said director Akira Sato will become vice chairman.
Sato's experience in game software is expected to help Sony Computer Entertainment--which has been seen by some industry specialists as a hardware-heavy game maker--in striking a balance between game software and hardware, Daiwa's Miura said.
Sony said Jack Tretton will replace Hirai as chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America.
Tretton was formerly co-chief operating officer of the U.S. gaming division and was part of the original management team given the job of launching PlayStation in North America in 1995, the company said.
