Home > Our Company > Expanded Company Timeline

Expanded Company Timeline

1993

  • November – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. is established as a joint venture between Sony Corporation and Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.

1994

  • May – Sony Computer Entertainment America is established, a division of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI)
  • December – PlayStation® launches in Japan

1995

  • January – Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is established, A division of Sony Electronic Publishing Ltd.
  • April – Deputy President Teruhisa Tokunaka appointed as President
  • September – PlayStation launches in North America and Europe

1996

  • December – 10 million PlayStation consoles shipped worldwide
  • December – PlayStation launches in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia

1997

  • August – 20 million PlayStation consoles shipped worldwide
  • September – Sony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong Ltd., a fully owned subsidiary of SCEI, is established
  • October – Deputy President Shigeo Maruyama appointed as Vice Chairman
  • October – Ken Kutaragi appointed as Deputy President
  • October – Akira Sato appointed as Deputy President

1998

  • February – 30 million PlayStation consoles shipped worldwide
  • April – The “Gran Turismo” production team is split off to become Polyphony Digital Inc., a fully owned subsidiary of SCEI
  • August – 40 million PlayStation consoles shipped worldwide
  • December 12 – 50 million PlayStation consoles shipped worldwide

1999

  • April – President Teruhisa Tokunaka retires (retires from the board in June 2004)
  • April – Deputy President Ken Kutaragi appointed as President
  • April – Sony Computer Entertainment Japan is established as a division company of SCEI
  • December – 70 million PlayStation consoles shipped worldwide

2000

  • March – PlayStation®2 launches in Japan
  • July – PS one® launches in Japan
  • September – PS one launches in the U.K. and North America
  • October – PlayStation 2 launches in North America
  • November – PS one launches in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Taiwan
  • November – PlayStation 2 launches in Europe

2001

  • March – 10 million PlayStation 2 systems shipped worldwide
  • April – Vice Chairman Shigeo Maruyama appointed as Chairman
  • April – President Ken Kutaragi appointed as President and CEO
  • April – Deputy President Akira Sato appointed as Deputy President and COO
  • October – 20 million PlayStation 2 systems shipped worldwide
  • December – PlayStation 2 launches in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia

2002

  • January – PlayStation 2 launches in Taiwan
  • February – PlayStation 2 launches in South Korea
  • May – 30 million PlayStation 2 systems shipped worldwide
  • July – Chairman Shigeo Maruyama retires (retires from the board in June 2007)
  • July – Masaru Kato appointed as Deputy President and CFO
  • September – 40 million PlayStation 2 systems shipped worldwide

2003

  • January – 50 million PlayStation 2 systems shipped worldwide

2004

  • January – 70 million PlayStation 2 systems shipped worldwide
  • April – President and CEO Ken Kutaragi appointed as President and Group CEO
  • April – Deputy President and CFO Masaru Kato appointed as Deputy President and Group CFO
  • May – 100 million PlayStation consoles (originally PS® or PS one®) shipped worldwide, the first 100 million-selling gaming system
  • November – PlayStation 2 (redesign) launches in North America, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan
  • December – PlayStation®Portable (PSP®) launches in Japan
  • December – PlayStation 2 launches in Singapore

2005

  • March – PlayStation Portable launches in North America
  • April – Deputy President and COO Akira Sato appointed as Deputy President and Group COO
  • May – PlayStation Portable launches in South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan
  • July – Sony Computer Entertainment Asia is established as a division company of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
  • July – Deputy President and CFO Masaru Kato appointed as Deputy President and Group CFO
  • September – PlayStation Portable launches in Europe
  • September – Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios is established to combine game development studios in Japan, North America and Europe
  • September – Acquisition of U.K. based SN Systems Ltd.
  • October – 10 million PlayStation Portable systems sold worldwide
  • November – 100 million PlayStation 2 systems sold worldwide
  • December – Acquisition of Guerrilla

2006

  • May – PlayStation Portable launches in South Korea
  • November – PlayStation®3 launches in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and North America
  • November – PlayStation®Network launches for PlayStation 3

2007

  • March – PlayStation 3 launches in Singapore and Europe
  • June – PlayStation 3 launches in South Korea
  • June – Chairman and Group CEO Ken Kutaragi appointed as Honorary Chairman
  • June – President and Group COO Kazuo Hirai appointed as President and Group CEO
  • September – PlayStation Portable (redesign) launches in North America, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, and Europe
  • October – PlayStation Portable (redesign) launches in Singapore

2008

  • February – Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios President Phil Harrison retires
  • March – President and Group CEO Kazuo Hirai appointed as Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios President
  • April – Gran Turismo® sells 50 million units worldwide
  • May – Senior Vice President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios US Studio, Shuhei Yoshida, appointed as President of Worldwide Studios
  • December – PlayStation®Home service launches

2009

  • February – PlayStation Portable sell-in reaches 50 million units worldwide
  • February – Registered accounts on PlayStation®Network exceed 20 million worldwide
  • April – President, CEO and Co-COO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, and Deputy President of Sony Computer Entertainment, David Reeves retires
  • May – CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) and Group Executive Officer of Sony Corporation, Andrew House appointed as President, CEO and Co-COO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
  • June – Deputy President and Group CFO Masaru Kato retires while remaining Member of the Board
  • July – Vice Chairman Akira Sato appointed as Chairman
  • July – Kunimasa Suzuki appointed as Deputy President while also serving as SVP and Corporate Executive Officer of Sony Corporation
  • October – PlayStation®Portable go (PSP®go) launches in North America, Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Malaysia
  • November – PlayStation Portable go launches in Japan

2010

  • March – Acquisition of Media Molecule
  • April – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. is newly established by company split
  • June – Registered accounts on PlayStation®Network exceed 50 million worldwide
  • June – PlayStation®Plus launches
  • September – PlayStation®Move launches in Asia, Europe, and North America
  • October – PlayStation Move motion controller launches in Japan
  • December – Gran Turismo sells 60 million units worldwide

2011

  • January – 150 million PlayStation 2 systems sold worldwide
  • March – 50 million PlayStation 3 systems sold worldwide
  • April – 70 million PlayStation Portable systems sold worldwide
  • June – Honorary Chairman Ken Kutaragi retires
  • August – Acquisition of Sucker Punch Productions
  • August – Chairman Akira Sato retires
  • September – President and Group CEO Kazuo Hirai appointed as Chairman
  • September – President, CEO and Co-COO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Andrew House, appointed as President and Group CEO
  • December – PlayStation®Vita launches in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan

2012

  • February – PlayStation Vita launches in South Korea, North America, and Europe
  • February – 1.2 million PlayStation Vita systems sold worldwide
  • June – Acquisition of Gaikai Inc.
  • June – Chairman, Kazuo Hirai and Deputy President, Kunimasa Suzuki retire
  • November – 70 million PlayStation 3 systems sold worldwide

2013

  • April – Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Asia is established
  • May – Gran Turismo sells 70 million units worldwide
  • October – PlayStation Vita (redesign) launches in Japan
  • November – 80 million PlayStation 3 systems sold worldwide
  • November – PlayStation®Vita TV (PS Vita TV)
  • November – PlayStation®4 launches in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Latin America
  • December – PlayStation 4 launches in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Malaysia

2014

  • February – PlayStation 4 launches in Japan
  • March – PlayStation®Vue launches in three North American cities on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3
  • April – Kazuo Miura appointed as Deputy President
  • July – PlayStation®Now launches in North America on PlayStation 4
  • August – 10 million PlayStation 4 systems sold worldwide
  • October – PlayStation®TV launches in North America
  • November – PlayStation TV launches in Europe

2015

  • March – 20.2 million PlayStation 4 systems sold worldwide
  • March – PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita launch in the People’s Republic of China
  • March – PlayStation Now launches in the United Kingdom on PlayStation 4
  • April – Bloodborne sells 1 million copies globally
  • November – 30.2 million PlayStation 4 systems sold worldwide

2016

  • January – 35.9 million PlayStation 4 systems sold worldwide
  • April – Formation of Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC
  • April – Formation of ForwardWorks Corporation
  • April – PlayStation Now launches in Europe on PlayStation 4
  • May – 40 million PlayStation 4 systems sold worldwide
  • September – PlayStation®4 Slim launches in Japan, North America, and Europe
  • October – PlayStation®VR launches in Japan, North America, and Europe
  • November – PlayStation®4 Pro launches in Japan, North America, and Europe
  • December – 50 million PlayStation 4 systems sold worldwide

2017

  • January – Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End sells 8.7 million copies globally
  • February – 915,000 PlayStation VR systems sold worldwide
  • June – 60.4 million PlayStation 4 systems sold worldwide
  • September – PlayStation Now launches in Japan on PlayStation 4
  • October – President and Group CEO Andrew House appointed as Chairman
  • October – Vice President John (Tsuyoshi) Kodera appointed as President and CEO
  • December – Uncharted franchise sells 41.7 million units worldwide
  • December – 70.6 million PlayStation 4 systems sold worldwide
  • December – 2 million PlayStation VR systems sold worldwide
  • December – 73.6 million PlayStation 4 systems sold worldwide

2018

  • January – Jim Ryan named Deputy President and Head of Global Sales & Marketing of SIE LLC and President of SIEE
  • May – Gran Turismo sells 80.4 million units worldwide
  • July – Kazuhiko Takeda named, Deputy President and CFO of SIE LLC
  • July – 3 million PlayStation VR systems sold worldwide
  • July – 81.2 million PlayStation 4 systems sold worldwide
  • July – 525.3 million PlayStation systems sold worldwide
  • October – Deputy President Kazuo Miura retires
  • December – 91.6 million PlayStation 4 systems sold worldwide

2019

  • January – Acquisition of Audiokinetic, Inc.
  • April – Jim Ryan named President and CEO of SIE LLC
  • May – PlayStation Worldwide Studios becomes PlayStation Studios
  • August – Marvel’s Spider-Man has sold 13.2 million units globally
  • August – Acquisition of Insomniac Games, Inc.
  • September – SIE Worldwide Studios Chairman Shawn Layden retires
  • December – 5 million PlayStation VR systems sold worldwide

2020

  • November 11 – PlayStation®5 launches in North America, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Middle East, South America, Asia, and South Africa
  • November 13 – God of War franchise has sold 51 million units globally

2021

  • March – Sony Interactive Entertainment and new esports venture, RTS, jointly acquire The Evolution Championship Series (Evo)
  • March – Deputy President of SIE LLC and Deputy President of SIE Inc., John Kodera retires
  • April – Lin Tao has been named Deputy President of SIE Inc.
  • June – Sony Interactive Entertainment acquires Housemarque Oy
  • June – Deputy President and CFO of SIE LLC, Kazuhiko Takeda retires
  • July – Sony Interactive Entertainment acquires Nixxes Software B.V.
  • July 21 – Detroit: Become Human Sells 6 Million Copies across PS4 and PC
  • July 26 – Death Stranding has sold 5 million copies across PS4 and PC
  • July 28 – Spider-Man: Miles Morales has now sold more than 6.5 million copies
  • July 28 – Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart has sold 1.1 million units
  • July 28 – MLB The Show 21 has sold more than 2 million copies on all platforms, and has reached more than 4 million players in total
  • July 28 – Returnal has sold 560,000 copies
  • September 21 – Sony Interactive Entertainment acquires Firesprite
  • September 30 – Sony Interactive Entertainment acquires Bluepoint Games
  • December 10 – Sony Interactive Entertainment acquires Valkyrie Entertainment

2022

  • January – PlayStation 5 has sold over 30M units globally
  • January 31 – Sony Interactive Entertainment acquires Bungie
  • February 11 – Horizon Zero Dawn has sold over 20 Million copies across PS4 and PC
  • March 21 – Sony Interactive Entertainment acquires Haven Entertainment Studios Inc.
  • May 23 – PlayStation Plus launches in Asia (excluding Japan)
  • June 2 – PlayStation Plus launches in Japan
  • June 3 – Marvel’s Spider-Man franchise has sold 33 million units globally
  • June 11 – The Last of Us Part II has sold 10 million units globally
  • June 13 – PlayStation Plus launches in North America and South America
  • June 23 – PlayStation Plus launches in Australia, New Zealand, and Europe
  • July 15 – Ghost of Tsushima has sold 9.73 million units globally
  • August 22 – Sony Interactive Entertainment acquires Savage Game Studios
  • November 23 – God of War Ragnarök sells 5.1 million copies in its debut week

2023

  • February – PlayStation VR2 Launches globally