Guerrilla Games managing director and co-founder Hermen Hulst has become new head of Worldwide Studios.
The appointment is effective immediately, with Hulst now supervising the work of Sony’s 14 internal studios.
Two heads of SIE Worldwide Studios: Shawn Layden (left) and Hermen Hulst (right). Image credit: Shawn Layden’s Twitter
This happens just over month after Shawn Layden stepped down as Worldwide Studios Chairman.
“Hermen is one of the most effective and well-respected leaders in the video game industry. He is a passionate advocate for the teams he leads and understands how to empower creative talent to build great experiences. I have no doubt Hermen can lead our teams to deliver compelling and diverse experiences at a steady cadence.”
Jim Ryan, PlayStation CEO and president, via gamesindustry.biz
Guerrilla is famous for the Killzone series and Horizon: Zero Dawn. The studio also worked with Kojima Productions to suppor the development of Death Stranding, which uses Guerrilla’s Decima game engine. Angie Smets, Jan-Bart van Beek and Michiel van der Leeuw will now jointly run the studio in Hulst’s place.
“I have worked closely with PlayStation and the entire Worldwide Studios family since 2001,and I have the utmost respect and admiration for the creative talent and ambitious ideas within the network of studios across the US, Europe, and Japan.”
Hermen Hulst
Meanwhile, Shuhei Yoshida is leaving his role as Worldwide Studios president. He will head an initiative to better engage external indie developers. This assignment means that going forward, smaller indie studios will remain important to the platform.
The changes are part of the ongoing reshuffle at Sony Interactive Entertainment ahead of the launch of PS5.