On Oct. 1, the longstanding head of PlayStation hardware at Sony will step down.
According to Bloomberg, 60-year-old Masayasu Ito, who oversaw the engineering for both the PS4 and PS5, is retiring and will be succeeded by current director Lin Tao. Sony issued a press release outlining Ito's retirement on Tuesday, Sept.6.
CHIBA, JAPAN - SEPTEMBER 20: An attendee walks past the PlayStation logo in the Sony Interactive Entertainment booth during the Tokyo Game Show 2018 on September 20, 2018 in Chiba, Japan. The Tokyo Game Show is held from September 20 to 23, 2018.
Ito's Contributions to PlayStation
Ito began working for Sony in 1986, and in 2008 he transferred to the PlayStation division to become the head of the PlayStation hardware engineering team.
The PlayStation 4, a tremendously popular console with lifetime sales of 117.2 million as of March, was engineered under Ito's supervision. The PS4 even accomplished the historic feat of outpacing all other consoles in terms of game sales last year, according to The Verge.
The PSVR headset, the PS4 Pro, and Sony's most recent PS5 console were also designed by Ito. The head engineer and his team worked for five years conceptualizing and producing the PS5, which Sony started working on in 2015.
Before the console's release in 2020, Ito provided details on the PS5 development process, indicating that Sony prioritized lowering noise levels and enhancing cooling capacity in the PS5.
A gamer uses a PS4 controller as he plays at the new Ubisoft video game "Watch Dogs Legion" on October 28, 2020, in Brussels. - The new game released on Octoer 28, 2020, by French studio Ubisoft is set in a dystopian near-future London, haunted by authoritarian surveillance and the ghost of Brexit
New PS5 Model
Sony has been lowering the weight of the PS5, even though it is the largest gaming system available out there. Last month, Sony discreetly unveiled an updated PS5, which was 13 percent lighter than the initial launch model.
The launch of the new PS5 model coincides with Sony's increase in PS5 system prices outside of the US.
Several countries, such as Australia, the UK, Japan, China, Canada, Mexico, and Europe, have all been affected by Sony's PS5 price hike as it also grapples with the impacts of inflation. Particularly, prices are increasing by 10% in Europe, 21% in Japan, and about 6%.
New Hardware Chief
Lin Tao, Ito's successor, will now be in control of any further PlayStation hardware iterations. Sony first introduced the PS3 in 2006, followed by the PS4 in 2013, and the PS5 in 2020, all released seven years apart.
Considering that it took Sony five years to conceptualize and develop the PS5, if the seven-year timeline for the following PlayStation generation will follow through, the company may soon begin the early planning phases for a new PlayStation generation with a new hardware head in charge.
Related Article: PSVR 2: Release Date Confirms for Early 2023-What to Expect on New VR
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Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla
