PlayStation Creator Kutaragi to Retire

Ken Kutaragi, known widely as the "Father of the PlayStation," is retiring as head of Sony Computer Entertainment.

Sony Computer Entertainment announced today that Ken Kutaragi, the “Father of the PlayStation,” will retire as chief executive of Sony’s game division on June 19, 2007. Kutaragi, age 56, will remain onboard as an honorary chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment and act as a senior technology advisor to Sony. In a statement, Katuragi said he would continue his work looking beyond the PlayStation: “I’m looking forward to building on this vision in my next endeavors.”

Kutaragi will be replaced by Kaz Hirai, who will become the game unit’s president and chief executive in charge of the PlayStation business. Hirai became the unit’s chief operating officer and president in late 2006, when Kutargi left his day-to-day role in company operations.

Kutargi invented the original PlayStation and played key roles in the development of the company’s still wildly-successful PlayStation 2 console; combined, more than 200 million PSOne and PlayStation 2 consoles have been sold. However, Katuragi’s departure less than six months after the introduction of the PlayStation 3 underscores the new console’s so far less-than-stellar track record against Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and (especially) the Nintendo Wii. High production costs—due in part to the systems’ integrated Blu-ray drives—are expected to ring up a loss for Sony’s game division of around $1.7 billion for their last fiscal year.