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He was one of the top representatives of PlayStation in the last decade, but he left Sony in 2019; he will now collaborate with the Chinese tech giant.
Shawn Layden was one of the most recognizable faces on PlayStation over the last decade. The president of Sony Interactive Entertainment America left Sony in September 2019 and since then has remained close to the industry but without revealing his next destination; he today he has confirmed that he is joining Tencent Games as a strategic advisor.
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“I am delighted to share that I recently joined Tencent Games as a strategic advisor,” Layden posted on his LinkedIn profile . In this new role I look forward to advising, assisting and supporting the Tencent team as they deepen their activities and engagements within the industry in which I have spent most of my career. We are at a key moment in the age of video games and interactive entertainment . There are many possible paths ahead, but only a few are deep, broad, inclusive, uplifting, inspiring, and/or sustainable. I am delighted to continue this journey of discovery and thank Tencent for the opportunity.”
Layden worked at Sony for several decades, beginning as a communications assistant in 1987. He joined the PlayStation division in 1994, although he became much more recognized since 2014, when he took over from Jack Tretton and began presenting Sony conferences at the E3 and similar fairs. In 2018 he became the president of Worldwide Studios , PlayStation’s internal developer group, now known as PlayStation Studios under the chairmanship of Hermen Hulst.
Tencent, a company with a wide presence in the industry
Tencent is the Chinese tech giant . It owns shares in more than 30 companies, including some of the best known in the sector such as Riot Games, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft or Epic Games, as well as investments and acquisitions in many companies such as Leyou, Digital Extreme, Grinding Gear Games, Klei Entertainment , Bloober Team, Sumo Group, Valhalla Game Studios, The Chinese Room, FromSoftare – a recent investment with Sony – and many more. His interest in Ubisoft has grown and for now he will bring his main sagas to mobile phones and China.
