Kaz Hirai Admits to Ignoring Sony HQ Orders During PlayStation Tenure
- Kazuo Hirai served as president of PlayStation from 2007 to 2012, often disregarding orders from Sony executives.
- Hirai emphasized the importance of unity during his tenure as Sony CEO, introducing the ‘kando’ strategy.
- He led the gaming division through significant events, including the launches of PlayStation 3 and Vita, and the 2011 outage.
Kazuo “Kaz” Hirai, president of PlayStation from 2007 to 2012, admitted in a conversation with the Japanese publication Nikkei XTrend, translated by Game Observer, that he often neglected directives from Sony’s upper management. Hirai recounted, “When I was president of Sony Computer Entertainment handling the PlayStation home console business, whenever Howard [Stringer] and the other executives told me this or that, I went my own way, saying, ‘What the headquarters says is irrelevant. We are PlayStation,'” revealing this while laughing.
Hirai later succeeded Stringer as the CEO of Sony, a period he described as challenging and in need of new direction. He stated, “The first things I focused on were: ‘getting people to know me’ and ‘getting them to move in the same direction.'” He highlighted that without mutual respect, collaboration would be ineffective.
As CEO, Hirai aimed to unify Sony’s various divisions, contrasting his previous approach at PlayStation. He developed the ‘kando’ slogan, derived from a Japanese term that entails being emotionally moved, promoting a corporate strategy focused on creating impactful products and experiences beyond mere functionality.
During his tenure at PlayStation, Hirai oversaw the division during crucial moments, including the launch of the PlayStation 3, the difficult introduction of the PlayStation Vita, and the notable PlayStation network outage in 2011. He vacated his position as Sony CEO in 2018 and gained notoriety for the widely critiqued PlayStation E3 2006 press conference.
News Courtesy of Eurogamer
