PSP, PS3, and PS4 designer Masayasu Ito is retiring from Sony Interactive Entertainment after 36 years of service, the company announced. Ito will be replaced by director and deputy president Lin Tao, whose current position will then be filled by Kiichiro Urata, the head of Japan Asia partner development and relations.
PS4 designer Masayasu Ito joined Sony in 1986
A mechanical engineer by profession, Ito joined Sony in 1986 and went on to work for the PlayStation division. Ito’s LinkedIn profile lists his involvement in the PSP, PS3, and PS4 but doesn’t seem to have been updated in a while and there are conflicting reports of his design work on the PS5. Nevertheless, it’s the PS4 that Ito is most known for.
In 2015, he dropped the news that there were no first-party games in development for the PS Vita anymore as Sony was fully focused on the PS4. Ito said that third-party companies were “working hard” on the handheld while Sony shifted its focus elsewhere, leading to disappointment among fans. That said, those decisions weren’t Ito’s. Following the PS4’s successful launch, Ito called the console’s $399 price tag the “magic price.” He revealed that the company planned to include a PlayStation camera with the hardware but decided against it because it would have lost “too much money.”
In a 2019 interview with Famitsu, Ito said that he was proud of his work on the PS4 and satisfied with how it turned out. Following a rough patch with the PS3, Ito wanted the company to regain its former glory especially during the PS1 and PS2 era, which he helped Sony succeed in doing together with architect Mark Cerny.
All the best, Ito san!
In other news, new Silent Hill game’s playable concept and script has apparently leaked, and Naughty Dog may have teased its next IP in The Last of Us Part 1.
