Sony has announced that Jack Tretton has stepped down as CEO and President of Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA). According to the company’s announcement, Tretton and Sony reached a “mutual agreement” to not renew their contractual relationship. Tretton had served as President and CEO of SCEA since November 2006 and helped oversee the launch of the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4. Tretton as known to make controversial comments throughout his career at Sony, including calling the Nintendo Wii a “lollipop” and the Xbox 360 an “unreliable cook.”
From 2007-2013, Tretton presented the Sony E3 press conferences. Taking over for Jack Tretton will be Sony Network Entertainment International (SNEI) EVP and COO Shawn Layden.
“Working at SCEA for the past 19 years has been the most rewarding experience of my career,” said Tretton in a release. “Although I will deeply miss the talented team at SCEA and the passion demonstrated every day by our fans, I’m very excited about starting the next chapter of my career. I want to thank the employees, partners and customers for their tireless commitment to the PlayStation brand and, of course, to our fans who have pushed us to new heights of innovation and entertainment over the past two decades. I leave PlayStation in a position of considerable strength and the future will only get brighter for PlayStation Nation.”
