Sony’s head of independent development at PlayStation and long-time game development leader for the console maker, Shuhei Yoshida, is leaving the company after over three decades. He helped produce some of the PlayStation’s earliest hits before moving onto help lead the platform’s powerhouse first-party studios across multiple console generations.

One of the creators of the first PlayStation is leaving Sony. Shuhei Yoshida worked at the Japanese company for nearly 31 years, and after leaving he wants to focus on indie games.

As of January 15, 2025, PlayStation’s Shuhei Yoshida will leave Sony but not retire from the industry entirely. Yoshida made the announcement while on the PlayStation Podcast Tuesday (a condensed transcription of the interview appears on the official PlayStation blog.