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Former PlayStation Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden has joined Chinese publisher Tencent Games as a strategic advisor.
Layden announced the news via his LinkedIn account, as spotted by Gematsu. He becomes the latest in a string of recent high-profile acquisitions by the company.
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“I am delighted to share that I have recently joined Tencent Games as a strategic advisor. In this new role, I hope to advise, assist and support the team at Tencent as they deepen their activities and commitments within in the industry to which I’ve devoted the majority of my career.”
Layden spent over 30 years at Sony, including becoming Vice President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe in 1999. He’d later succeed Jack Tretton in 2014 to become President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America.
During this period, he was a regular on PlayStation’s E3 stage – and shifted his focus to SIE Worldwide Studios in 2018.
However, he’d depart Sony by October of 2019, just before the announcement of the PlayStation 5. He’d be succeeded by Guerrilla Games’ Hermen Hulst.
Layden later told Bloomberg he felt console launches were “a young person’s activity” and he’d stepped aside to “allow another generation to take the PlayStation 5 to market.”
Tencent’s had a string of high profile acquisitions in recent months, picking up Back 4 Blood studio Turtle Rock back in December. It then also picked up Nightingale developer Inflexion Games in February.
Layden closed his statement with the following. “I am thrilled to continue this journey of discovery and thank Tencent for the opportunity.
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