Phil Harrison steps down at Sony

Kazuo Hirai, president and group chief executive of SCE, will assume Harrison's responsibilities as president in addition to his current duties.

"The past 15 years at SCE has been the defining journey of my life so far," said Harrison.

Harrison joined Sony Electronics Publishing, which later became Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, in 1992, prior to the launch of the original PlayStation.

He went on to play a pivotal role in the launch of all three PlayStation consoles, as well as the PlayStation Portable.

Harrison was instrumental in the development of other technologies based on the platforms, including the company's first-party game development titles such as PlayStation Home project.

"As one of the founding members of SCE, Phil played a key role in the development and growth of the PlayStation business and our industry," said Hirai.

"It is sad to see him departing, but I wish to express my gratitude for his many invaluable contributions and wish him the very best of luck in his future endeavours."

From 1989 to 1992, Harrison served as head of development for Mindscape International, and prior to that as a consultant game designer and graphic artist in the UK.

GamesIndustry.biz suggested that Harrison will be joining video game developer Atari in the coming weeks.