
One of the goals of the new unit will be the extended development of PlayStation VR headset, Project Morpheus.
Even if the merger will be complete on the 1st of April, the news that Sony moves everything PlayStation related to its own business unit is far from being an April Fools joke. This announcement comes from the CEO and President of Sony Computer Entertainment, Shawn Layden.
Basically, this will merge Sony Computer Entertainment, the branch tasked with the production and management of everything gaming related, with Sony Network Entertainment, all of the products related to PlayStation Network and the PSN Store, under the title of Sony Interactive Entertainment.
This new business unit will be led by the former SCE head, Shawn Layden, as CEO while Shuhei Yoshida, formerly in charge of worldwide studios, will take the role of president, reporting directly to Layden.
This move is hoped by Andrew House, the global CEO of Sony, to create a much more secure and effective business structure in terms of production and support. Basically, everything related to gaming will be under one roof, ranging from hardware and software to online services and support.
SCE has been around since 1993 when the first PlayStation took markets by storm while SNE was set up in 2010 in order to preside over online services related to the PlayStation Network. Ever since Sony started to gain more and more momentum in the gaming market, the merger of its two business units seemed as the next logical step in its growth.
In terms of both short and long term effects after the new Sony Interactive Entertainment are still unclear. Supposedly, having the online side of the business presided by those who look after software and hardware could mean that games dependent on online services will become more common while current games will benefit from increased support. It might even mean that PS Plus users will have more Sony-based games added to the free line-up, but that is still in the realm of allegation.
The main goal of the new business, according to House, will be the development and research of new products and services, besides providing extensive support for current products. Its headquarters will be based in San Mateo, California, and will preside over each and every worldwide part of Sony that is even remotely connected to gaming or hardware manufacturing.
Hopefully, after Sony moves everything PlayStation related to its own business unit, PSN will suffer less and less service shortages while PS Plus will gain an increase in terms of oferred services. Only time will tell how this move will impact PlayStation fans and gamers worldwide.
Image source:blog.us.playstation.com