PlayStation hardware architect Masayasu Ito to retire this month

Sony veteran bows out after decades-long tenure

Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced that one of the PlayStation brand’s longest-running developers, Masayasu Ito, will retire from the company at the end of September. Ito’s departure was first communicated to Bloomberg, before the publisher made its own statement on the official SIE website.

Masayasu Ito started with Sony way back in 1986, where he worked on the company’s range of vehicular stereo systems — back when audio equipment was the cornerstone of Sony’s technological output. Ito would not join the PlayStation brand until the year 2000, when his design know-how would be put to use in the development of PS2 accessories.

Ito would become a key player in the division, becoming part of the architecture team for the PS4 and PS4 Pro consoles, as well as the popular handheld console PlayStation Portable (PSP). Most recently, Ito had the unenviable task of co-engineering Sony’s most recent hardware release, PS5. Creating powerful, next-gen technology against the backdrop of severely hampered production, component, and distribution shortages is no small feat, though the console would see its heralded arrival on November 12, 2020.

Ito’s contribution to the PlayStation brand’s success in the past two decades is clearly his legacy, having overseen the release of some of the best-selling game consoles of all time. Ito will retire from Sony Interactive Entertainment on October 1, 2022, when he will be replaced by Lin Tao, who currently serves as SIE’s SVP of Finance, Corporate Development, and Strategy.