Sony will lose one of the most important people in PlayStation development. According to a report from Bloomberg, Masayasu Ito, vice president of hardware engineering at Sony Interactive Entertainment, will retire next month. Ito was in charge of the PS4 and PS5, as well as other major products during his 36 years with the company.
Masayasu Ito will leave his position as head of SIE hardware next October 1. However, the PlayStation architect will continue to collaborate in the mobility division and as an executive advisor until March 2023. His departure is important, since he was not only responsible for the success of PlayStation 4, but also devices such as the PlayStation VR y la PlayStation 4 Pro
Although Ito joined Sony in 1986, it wasn’t until the 2000s that he joined the ranks of PlayStation. According to your LinkedIn profilewas the PSP Mechanical Engineering Lead and PS3 Hardware Engineering Lead. In April 2008, he took the position of Vice President of Hardware Engineering at SCEI and oversaw the architecture of the PlayStation 4, one of Sony’s most successful consoles.
From the LCD screen of the PSOne, to the development of the PlayStation 4 and 5
Do you remember the famous video of the disassembly of a PS5? The protagonist is none other than Masayasu Ito, who began the design process for the console in 2015. In it, Ito mentioned his philosophy in creating PlayStation-branded products.
Our team values well thought out and beautifully designed architecture. Inside the console is an internal structure that looks clean and uncluttered, meaning there are no unnecessary components and the design is efficient. As a result, we are able to achieve our goal of creating a product with a high degree of perfection and quality.
Masayasu Ito
Ito’s departure comes at a key moment in which Sony is working hard to guarantee the existence of the PS5. Despite breaking sales records at launch, chip shortages and supply chain issues are making it difficult to distribute. Added to this, PlayStation decided to increase the price of the console in multiple regions due to financial uncertainty.
Lin Tao will take over Ito’s role as director of hardware engineering and operation in Japan. For his part, Hideaki Nishino, who took over as senior vice president in March 2021, will be responsible for the PlayStation platform. Ito’s retirement was not heralded with fanfare; Sony limited itself to publishing a brief announcement with executive changes.
Although we tend to associate PlayStation hardware with names like Ken Kutaragi or Mark Cerny, Masayasu Ito is an important part of the brand. The mechanical engineer, a graduate of Waseda University, takes with him milestones such as the LCD screen of the PSOne, some peripherals of the PS2, the software design of the PS4 and multiple iterations of the DualShock controllers during the five generations of consoles in the ones that worked.
