Sony announces that it has hired Nicolas Doucet, the game director of Astro Bot Rescue Mission, to lead its SIE Japan Studio. Astro Bot Rescue Mission was a critical and sales hit when it was released in 2018 and many said that the game is a reason to buy a PlayStation VR headset.
In a short announcement on its Japanese site, Sony confirmed that Doucet has been the studio director of SIE Japan Studio since February 1, 2020. Doucet has worked at Sony for 16 years and has played an important part in some of the company's most exciting technologies. He was a producer and director of EyeToy games and he was the game director of The Playroom and The Playroom VR. However, many gamers will know Doucet for directing Astro Bot Rescue Mission which was developed by the ASOBI! Team at SIE Japan Studio.
Doucet's promotion follows a series of other movements at the top level of the PlayStation brand. It seems that Sony is trying to get everyone in a good position for the PS5's launch in holiday 2020. Sony Interactive Entertainment's Chairman for Worldwide Studios Shawn Layden left the company in September 2019 and in November 2019, Guerrilla Games director Hermen Hulst became President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios.
Sony has also hired some people from outside of the company. In January 2020 it was announced that PlayStation had hired former Microsoft sales lead, Veronica Rogers, who is now the boss of sales of PlayStation consoles and PlayStation services such as PlayStation Now. Rogers' hiring is hugely important as Sony hopes to make more money from its services and take on services such as Xbox Game Pass.
Sony's decision to promote Doucet may just be the company making sure important roles are filled by people it can trust, but fans are hoping that the developer will do something exciting. Some fans are hoping that SIE Japan Studio will make a new Gravity Rush game. The reviews of Gravity Rush 2 were positive and fans would like to see a third game in the action-adventure series.
Some are also hoping that Doucet and the SIE Japan Studio team will make Bloodborne 2. It is Sony that owns the rights to Bloodborne, not developer From Software, and SIE Japan Studio also helped to develop Bloodborne. It's unclear what game SIE Japan Studio will make next, but fans are excited to see it.
Source: Sony