Shu Yoshida has graduated from Sony, however he’s not retired. Reasonably, he’s operating a brand new indie video games consulting firm dubbed YOSP Inc.
Yoshida’s urge for food to do extra in gaming reveals simply how a lot he loves indie recreation builders. He received a Lifetime Achievement Awards at Gamescom Latam 2025, the place I did a hearth chat with him in entrance of a giant crowd of admiers.
Yoshida simply accomplished 38 years at Sony, together with 31 years at PlayStation, and he accomplished his final day on the large Japanese firm’s gaming division on January 15.
Whereas he’s leaving an illustrious profession within the PlayStation enterprise, Yoshida instructed me in an interview and the gang at Gamescom Latam that he’s not achieved with gaming. He nonetheless plans on working with indie recreation makers, which was his closing project at Sony Interactive Leisure. He joined Sony in 1986, proper out of faculty, and went to work in company technique to overview budgets and search for new companies for Sony.
On the time, Ken Kutaragi, in search of revenge in opposition to Nintendo after it reneged on an settlement to work with Sony on a recreation console, pitched and received approval for creating the Sony PlayStation. Yoshida didn’t imagine Kutaragi might pull off his plan to do workstation-level 3D graphics on a $500 recreation console. However his former boss urged Yoshida to affix and he took the plunge into the unknown. Yoshida turned one of many first 80 individuals engaged on the PlayStation.
The system debuted in December 1994 in Japan and in 1995 within the U.S. It turned out to be an enormous hit, and Yoshida needed to create a deck to impress Kutaragi’s bosses. Some seen the PlayStation as a “toy” that might tarnish the Sony model. Yoshida pitched the PlayStation because the “world’s first digital actuality system.” As soon as Sony moved ahead, Yoshida needed to persuade Japanese recreation builders and publishers to make video games for the system.
Because the PlayStation succeeded, Yoshida climbed up the ranks, transferring to the U.S. and turning into a vp of Sony Pc Leisure. He turned president of Sony Pc Leisure Worldwide Studios in 2008, after Phil Harrison left to run Atari. In 2019, as Jim Ryan turned the pinnacle of the PlayStation enterprise, Yoshida stepped down from that position and have become head of PlayStation Indies in 2019. Of that transfer, he stated he had no alternative. It was taking that indie job or depart the corporate. In 2023, he obtained a BAFTA Fellowship for his work in video games.
Among the many titles he labored on had been Gran Turismo, The Legend of Dragoon, Ape Escape, Crash Bandicoot, Crash Crew Racing and Spyro 2: Ripto’s Vary. He oversaw improvement on best-selling franchises together with God of Conflict, Uncharted and The Final of Us. He additionally turned a preferred spokesman for Sony, usually main the corporate’s responses to players on social media.
I caught up with Yoshida on the Cube Summit this week in Las Vegas and as soon as once more at Gamescom Latam. We talked about these recollections and extra.
The Gamescom Latam Massive Competition 2025 awards in Sao Paulo, Brazil, began with the lifetime achievement award for Shu Yoshida, who championed indies at Sony’s PlayStation division throughout his a long time of labor on the firm.
Rodrigo Terra, CEO of Abram Video games, the Brazilian recreation affiliation, offered the award to Yoshida, who will do a hearth chat with me at Gamescom Latam on Thursday night in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Right here’s an edited transcript of our interview.
Right here’s an edited transcript of our interview.
GamesBeat: Shu Yoshida simply received the lifetime achievement award right here at Gamescom Latam yesterday, so congratulations to Shu for that. He additionally received an identical award from BAFTA. He’s been on this enterprise endlessly. He spent 31 years at PlayStation, and 38 years altogether at Sony. He joined in 1986, and he was worker quantity 32 on what was on the time an 80-person PlayStation crew. He helped launch the unique PlayStation, the PS2, PS3, PS4. He finally rose to steer the Worldwide Studios accountable for franchises like Uncharted and The Final of Us. He ended his time there targeted on indie video games.
Shu simply retired from Sony on the finish of final 12 months. Now he can discuss a bit extra.
Shuhei Yoshida: I left Sony, however I’m not retired.
GamesBeat: You began a brand new gig. What are you doing now?
Yoshida: I began my very own firm, YOSP Inc. I wish to assist indie publishers and builders that I’ve identified for a very long time. I’m working with youthful people who find themselves proficient and enthusiastic about video games to develop actually high-quality, inventive video games. I’m having a whole lot of enjoyable working with these firms now.
GamesBeat: One of many good issues about Shu leaving Sony is he’s been in a position to do much more interviews currently. I did one with him. It bought handed round fairly a bit. Had been there some moments you talked about in your interviews that you just had by no means talked about earlier than, that additionally bought a whole lot of consideration? What had been the tales that individuals appreciated listening to about you?
Yoshida: The interview you probably did with me, that was obtained very effectively. What did we discuss?
GamesBeat: One attention-grabbing factor about you and your lengthy profession is that you just had been very energetic on social media. Folks actually appreciated you. Loads of recreation executives appear to shrink back from interacting with followers, however you dove into it.
Yoshida: I form of represented PlayStation once I was with the corporate. I’m very energetic on X, the previous Twitter. I’ve plenty of followers. Each time PlayStation, as an organization, does one thing good, like launch a brand new nice recreation or new {hardware}, make a giant announcement, individuals come to my channel and say, “Shu, you’re doing a fantastic job.” Even when I had nothing to do with that a part of the corporate. I all the time get credit score I don’t deserve. In fact, when there was one thing dangerous about PlayStation I’d get, “Shu, you suck.” However fortunately, most of the time PlayStation was doing one thing proper.
Day-after-day, even right now, once I get up I take a look at my X account and folks I don’t know inform me I’m doing nice. Take into consideration that. If each morning, somebody you don’t know tells you you’re doing nice, that’s a fairly completely satisfied life. I’m dwelling a fantastic life proper now due to my interactions with individuals on the web.
GamesBeat: I feel you’re being a bit overly humble once you say you had nothing to do with a few of these video games. We talked about Uncharted and The Final of Us, however different issues that occurred in your watch embody Gran Turismo, The Legend of Dragoon, Ape Escape, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro II. Is there any recreation you actually loved engaged on probably the most?
Yoshida: Through the PlayStation days, I used to be a producer. I used to be very hands-on with recreation improvement. The sport the place I used to be most concerned within the inventive facet was Ape Escape. Do you all know Ape Escape? Oh, thanks. It’s an motion platformer recreation, like Mario, however you catch monkeys. That was a whole lot of enjoyable. After we began growing the sport, our objective was to create a 3D motion platformer like Mario 64, an incredible recreation of that era. However once we realized that the PlayStation {hardware} crew was getting ready for the launch of a brand new controller with two analog sticks, the Twin Shock controller, we determined to make this recreation solely playable with the brand new controller. We wished to provide you with recreation mechanics that used two analog sticks very effectively. We prototyped plenty of actions, like once you rotate the best analog stick, you can transfer a propeller and fly. It was a whole lot of enjoyable to do.
GamesBeat: I forgot to say God of Conflict as effectively. That was a small recreation.
Yoshida: On PlayStation 2 I used to be accountable for improvement in the USA. Santa Monica Studios was one of many studios I used to be overseeing. Once they made God of Conflict, that was the very first first-party recreation from PlayStation to win recreation of the 12 months awards from trade occasions just like the DICE Summit or GDC. We had been all very proud.
Through the authentic PlayStation days, you won’t know this, however Japan was the house of our recreation improvement. Numerous nice video games got here out of Japan. These Japanese firms had been revered globally for the standard of their video games. After I moved from Japan to the U.S. for the PS2, I believed, “All proper, I’m going to carry Japanese recreation improvement to the U.S.” However once I landed within the U.S., I rapidly realized how open the event neighborhood within the U.S. was. At locations like GDC, recreation builders gathered collectively and shared data. They realized from one another.
Rapidly, simply after a few years, I ended taking a look at video games from Japan. The standard of recreation improvement within the U.S. was going up so rapidly. After we launched God of Conflict, the 3D action-adventure style prior to now was identified for video games developed in Japan, nevertheless it was so well-done that improvement groups in Japan requested, “How did you make this recreation?” That was a really proud second for me, working with a U.S. crew to make video games that Japanese builders revered.
GamesBeat: Some persons are in all probability questioning how you bought to be a gamer. There’s a little-known story about your childhood and the way you made video games with pencil and paper.
Yoshida: After I was a baby, there was no such factor as console gaming. Throughout my faculty days, I created a recreation utilizing a pencil. I carved the sting of the pencil, as a result of it had six faces, with numbers from one to 6. Then I ready two pencils like that and created a chart on paper, like a matrix. The pencils acted like two cube. Whenever you threw the pencils, you bought a mixture of numbers, like one and 6 or three and 4. You can put any guidelines inside that matrix. For instance, I made a baseball recreation. Whenever you’d throw one and one it was a house run, one thing like that. I made many various sorts of video games like that and let my faculty mates play them with me.
The one recreation I made in these days that I used to be actually pleased with–the desks we had in school had been made from wooden, with a thick plate of wooden on high. I carved a baseball diamond into the floor of my desk and used a pachinko ball and a pencil. We’d sit on reverse sides of the desk. One particular person would throw the pachinko ball and the opposite would attempt to hit it with the pencil. There have been holes on the floor – this one is a house run, that is an out, this can be a double play. That was a extremely popular recreation amongst my mates. However finally I used to be referred to as to the principal’s workplace to apologize. Fortunately they didn’t report that to my dad and mom.
GamesBeat: Inform me the way you met Ken Kutaragi, the daddy of the PlayStation.
Yoshida: I used to be working at Sony Company. On the time Sony was an electronics firm making the Walkman, TVs, VCRs and so forth. I used to be working within the PC division. Sony was growing a pocket book laptop for Apple. The very first Powerbook was designed by Sony. However one time I used to be referred to as by my former boss to fulfill with Ken Kutaragi. Ken stated, “We’re growing a online game system with the facility of a workstation.” On the time Silicon Graphics workstations had been within the $50,000 to $100,000 vary. You used them to create pre-rendered 3D graphics. He stated we had been going to promote this recreation machine for $500. I stated, “That’s superb,” however I completely didn’t imagine him.
I went again to the one who really useful me to fulfill with Kutaragi, and I stated, “I feel this man is a liar.” However that particular person stated, “No, I belief what Ken is doing.” So I requested if I might be part of Ken’s crew. That’s how I got here to affix the PlayStation crew, lengthy earlier than the PlayStation was launched.
GamesBeat: We’re going to leap round a bit. You’ve engaged with Brazilian recreation builders earlier than. You met the parents who based Arvore.
Yoshida: One factor I had plenty of enjoyable doing through the PlayStation 4 era was that I bought concerned within the improvement of the PlayStation VR system, the primary one. That concept really got here from Santa Monica Studios, the God of Conflict crew. They created a home made viewer and connected it to a PS3 dev package. It used the Transfer controller. It was a home made VR system. They custom-made a God of Conflict recreation on PS3. One of many builders put that handmade headset on my head and I used to be on the planet of God of Conflict. I regarded down and I used to be Kratos. It was an incredible expertise. If that was doable with the PS3, we thought that with the PS4, we might in all probability develop it right into a client product. That was the place the inspiration got here from. I used to be closely concerned within the improvement of the particular {hardware}.
After we had been engaged on PSVR and launched the {hardware}, there was a superb recreation referred to as Pixel Ripped 1989. That recreation was developed right here in Brazil by Arvore. The sport used, in my thoughts, the very best use of the PSVR system. You had been an elementary faculty scholar, and in school you wished to play your moveable recreation system, like a Recreation Boy. There’s a recreation inside the sport. However it’s a must to play the sport whereas the trainer isn’t taking a look at you. You need to verify on what the trainer is taking a look at and play the sport efficiently on the moveable you’ve. The PSVR system has the flexibility to trace the Twin Shock controller. Whenever you’re holding the Twin Shock like this, you actually really feel such as you’re holding that moveable recreation system contained in the digital world. I turned an enormous fan of that recreation and met the developer, Ana Ribeiro, the creator of the sport. We turned mates. That’s how I met a Brazilian developer for the primary time.
GamesBeat: You made a transition in your profession, transferring from being accountable for all of the studios to being accountable for indies. What was that like for you?
Yoshida: It was 2019. Jim Ryan, on the time, was CEO of the corporate. He requested me to do one thing about supporting indies. I don’t know if you happen to recall, however in 2019 PlayStation was criticized by media individuals and trade individuals, who stated that PlayStation wasn’t supporting indie builders sufficient. PlayStation was generally known as a giant supporter of indie video games across the launch of PS4, and we had nice indie video games obtainable on PS4, however towards the top of the era one way or the other the corporate’s consideration shifted extra to supporting large video games and first-party video games. I used to be accountable for growing first-party video games, so I used to be getting a whole lot of assist from the corporate, however I used to be involved concerning the seeming lack of assist for indie builders.
To me, it’s not solely that I used to be a giant fan of indie video games, however I actually imagine that indie builders will create the long run. They convey innovation to the trade. A terrific firm like PlayStation with such a big platform within the trade ought to be main assist for creativity in that a part of the trade. But it surely regarded like we weren’t doing sufficient. When Jim Ryan requested me to do one thing, I stated I’d do my finest to advocate for the significance of indie video games inside and outdoors the corporate. I labored with our third-party groups to determine nice video games popping out and tried to advertise them in social channels and so forth. For the final 5 years of my work at PlayStation, I used to be taking a look at indie video games, figuring out nice video games and selling them in order that plenty of individuals would attempt them.
GamesBeat: How did you develop your private style round video games and use your instinct to determine what video games to greenlight and put some huge cash behind?
Yoshida: After I was accountable for the first-party studios, after all we had some in style IP like God of Conflict and Uncharted. Folks wished to play extra of these video games. Their studios had concepts to advance these franchises, and I supported the creation of these sequels. However I all the time wished to steadiness our work on these current franchises and our funding in new IP. In my thoughts, engaged on new IP is the very best likelihood, the very best alternative for a crew to provide you with progressive concepts. I all the time wished to spend half of my funds on new IP improvement. So far as what new video games to assist, it was partly intuition and partly listening to the builders to see how a lot thought that they had put into developing with these concepts.
GamesBeat: You’ve all the time been a fairly optimistic particular person, however the recreation trade has had a troublesome time in the previous few years. There have been a whole lot of layoffs, a whole lot of studios closing. Folks discuss an indie apocalypse, nevertheless it additionally appears to be affecting triple-A video games. All the pieces has been affected ultimately. How do you keep optimistic?
Yoshida: 5 years in the past, when COVID occurred, everybody on the planet needed to keep at dwelling. They’d to spend so much of time at dwelling. Naturally they spent a whole lot of time enjoying video games. The online game trade bought an enormous profit from that state of affairs. The trade grew like loopy. Many firms, particularly massive firms, believed that pattern would proceed. Business analysts had been projecting that loopy development would proceed. Naturally, administration individuals invested some huge cash, and some huge cash got here in from exterior the trade. The final couple of years of adjustment, with all these cancellations and layoffs, is the punishment for that form of considering from administration.
With regards to preserving an optimistic view, once you take a look at the expansion of the trade, it’s been really fizzling out for a few years. However if you happen to take out these anomalies and plot it out, the trade continues to be rising steadily. I’ve a powerful concept that video video games benefit from any new technological development. When new know-how comes alongside, the very first thing individuals do with it’s make video games. Builders are fast to take benefit and experiment with new know-how. Leisure all the time wants contemporary new concepts. In any other case individuals get bored and transfer on.
Fortunately, due to this fixed improvement of recent applied sciences, video video games all the time have contemporary alternatives to create new experiences, or to cut back the price of improvement, the price of entry into the trade. Take digital distribution. That’s the largest change within the final 30 years for the trade. Digital distribution democratized the trade. Up to now, earlier than digital, you needed to have capital to turn out to be a writer. You needed to spend some huge cash creating bodily stock. You needed to promote to distributors and retailers. You wanted a whole lot of group to have the ability to do this.
Now, a child in Africa can simply obtain Unity free of charge, so long as they’ve a PC, and begin making video games. In the event that they make a fantastic recreation, they will publish it on Steam or no matter distribution platform – PlayStation Community, Xbox Stay – and promote their recreation globally. That’s the largest change, the largest alternative. Increasingly more inventive minds are getting into the trade as recreation builders. On this area as effectively, I used to be right here three years in the past for the BIG pageant. I met with many builders and performed their video games on the present flooring. Three years later, the video games I used to be in a position to play right here, the video games I noticed from builders–I took 14 conferences right now. The standard has clearly elevated. I’m tremendous optimistic for the way forward for this trade, so long as we proceed to create new know-how and builders proceed to benefit from it.
GamesBeat: How did you concentrate on deciding to depart Sony and PlayStation?
Yoshida: I used to be very completely satisfied managing the first-party studios. It’s possible you’ll know that we had incredible, inventive, passionate groups like Naughty Canine, Insomniac, Guerrilla Video games, Media Molecule, or Japan Studios. It was a lot enjoyable working with these groups, so inspiring and so rewarding. The video games these groups made had been performed by hundreds of thousands of individuals globally. We had been in a position to see how a lot optimistic impression we had on the lives of individuals. A few of you may need grown up enjoying the video games we developed. It was such a rewarding job.
When Jim Ryan requested me to do one thing about indies, I wasn’t considering that I’d do something aside from recreation improvement for PlayStation. However due to the state of affairs that I defined, I believed that I needed to do one thing earlier than I left PlayStation. I actually cared about how PlayStation supported indie video games. 5 years in the past, I set a objective to make my position as an advocate for indie video games at PlayStation out of date. If I did an excellent job working with all of the groups at PlayStation to assist indies and arrange assets to assist them, I wouldn’t want an individual like me to maintain saying that this was essential. Everybody on the firm would perceive.
Final 12 months, after these 5 years, I felt like the corporate was on an excellent trajectory. They’ve good assets and plans to maintain supporting indies. My mission was completed. On the identical time, Jim Ryan, who arrange my position, left the corporate earlier than I did. I turned virtually the final of the administration group from the very first era of PlayStation. Fortunately, the corporate picked nice individuals as the brand new era of leaders for PlayStation. They’re a lot youthful than our era. They’ll carry contemporary concepts for the corporate. I felt like my time at PlayStation was ending. That’s how I made a decision to depart.
GamesBeat: From taking a look at so many indie video games, what tendencies do you be ok with which are occurring within the recreation trade? What are some stuff you’re enthusiastic about for the long run?
Yoshida: At PlayStation there’s an initiative referred to as the China Hero Venture, the India Hero Venture, and now the MENA Hero Venture, the Center East and North Africa. PlayStation is investing in builders in these areas to assist them turn out to be console recreation builders. I used to be a part of this initiative. I hung out visiting India for a few years, assembly with Indian builders. I actually like once I see video games coming from these areas. Not simply prime quality video games, however builders benefiting from their heritage, their tradition and mythology, their music, and even social points in these areas. They’re creating distinctive video games with genuine topics, the form of video games that solely the builders in that area can create.
So many video games are being developed worldwide due to the democratization I talked about. It’s laborious to compete. A few of you is likely to be builders. You should be feeling the identical. Even if you happen to make a fantastic recreation, it’s laborious to get your recreation to be identified by individuals, as a result of so many video games are launched each week. However if you happen to depend on one thing you imagine that you realize higher than anybody else on the planet, if you happen to’re probably the most educated about that topic, that’s an opportunity to your recreation to face out. There are all the time individuals with cash, publishers and traders, in search of new concepts and new video games to scout. I perceive there are numerous publishing scouts right here at Gamescom Latam looking for new video games. They’re all the time in search of new concepts, one thing they haven’t seen earlier than. After I see video games like that from India, from Brazil, that actually excites me.
GamesBeat: May you discuss a number of the most memorable moments out of your lengthy profession?
Yoshida: I all the time say that the sport I’m most pleased with was Journey. It was a small recreation made by a small crew, proper out of college in Los Angeles. Heaps of people that performed that recreation cried on the finish. It’s a metaphor for human life. After I performed it, towards the top I used to be remembering my grandmother, who had handed away a couple of years earlier than. Jenova Chen, the creator of the sport–it received plenty of awards. He did a speech on the DICE Summit that 12 months, the place he learn a letter from a lady who had misplaced her father. She talked about how enjoying the sport helped her to cope with the unhappiness of shedding her father, remembering his life and with the ability to overcome that unhappiness. Figuring out {that a} small recreation might have a big impact on the lives of individuals like that, a recreation you can play in simply 4 hours–I felt the impression a recreation might have on human life was so significant. I used to be so proud to be a part of that improvement course of.
GamesBeat: It’s heartening to see that Jenova and thatgamecompany are attempting to provide again to the trade. They only introduced this week that they wished to do some recreation jams to floor narrative video games with emotional storytelling. They’re going to assist fund these video games from indie builders.
Yoshida: Jenova is a incredible particular person. They made some huge cash from their recreation Sky. It’s nice to see that. You had been within the room for Jenova’s speech at DICE, weren’t you?
GamesBeat: Yeah, I’ve talked to Jenova a whole lot of instances. I keep in mind one of many issues he talked about was that that they had this profitable recreation, however the firm nonetheless wasn’t financially viable. They needed to discover one other method out, go down a unique path. However happily that led to Sky.
Query: At E3 2013 there have been large repercussions associated to a video the place Mr. Yoshida demonstrated the method of borrowing a PS4 recreation from a good friend. Many thought-about this second Sony’s comeback to a management place available in the market. It set the corporate up because the winner in that era, even earlier than it was launched. How did Sony see that second, which additionally highlighted the weak factors of the competitors?
Yoshida: I can reply the final half first. It was nice to have an excellent competitor who allow us to win. We had been simply speaking about our plans. Folks thought we had been good.
Query: Now that you just’ve been working with indie studios rather a lot, what classes do you assume triple-A studios nonetheless must be taught from indies?
Yoshida: Massive studios–I labored with bigger studios throughout my first-party improvement days. They’re large followers of indie video games. Indies attempt new concepts. They provide you with new recreation mechanics and even invent new genres of video games. Triple-A studio persons are recreation followers as effectively. They all the time play indie video games and get inspiration from youthful inventive builders. They’re studying, and that may proceed.
The dimensions of triple-A improvement is turning into even greater now. Corporations must make secure bets when it comes to genres and material. They must do sequels, issues like that. However they wish to reinvent their franchises inside that form of improvement. Typically the supply of their inspiration comes from indie builders.
Query: How does it really feel so that you can see franchises that you just gave delivery to, that you just noticed being created, have a lot impression now on the sport trade?
Yoshida: How does it really feel? It feels superb. I all the time really feel pleased with the builders who made these franchises, who pushed their franchises to new heights. I got here up as a producer in studio administration. I can’t program or draw artwork or design video games. I’ve all the time had a excessive respect for the individuals who can do this. Each time youthful builders push to the following stage for these franchises and get a fantastic response from their viewers, that makes me pleased with them.
