How Shuhei Yoshida Shaped PlayStation And The Way We Play

Shuhei Yoshida always dreamed of living abroad. Growing up in Kyoto, he studied science at university and loved playing Dragon Quest in his free time. He longed for a real-life adventure, and soon enough, an opportunity arose, much like the quests in his favorite game.

Yoshida started his career at Sony after graduating college, joining their strategy team with high hopes. He remembers that at the time, most of Sony’s business – around 80 to 90% – came from outside of Japan, and he was excited by the possibility of living and working abroad with the company.

When I was working at Sony, I was focused on helping different teams grow. One group really stood out – it was a small team led by Ken Kutaragi, and they’d just finished the sound chip for the super popular SNES. Though someone else was officially assigned to work with them, I was really interested in what Ken was doing and tried to help out whenever I could. They started building a CD-ROM system for the Super Nintendo, and honestly, the guy who was in charge of the project wasn’t a huge gamer, so I ended up giving him a lot of advice and input.

The Nintendo Betraystation

Yoshida loved talking about video games, while Kutaragi’s team was busy developing a CD-ROM add-on for the Super Nintendo, initially called the ‘Nintendo PlayStation.’ Sony was also exploring laptops and PCs at the time. Yoshida remained focused on his work until 1991, when the partnership between Sony and Nintendo unexpectedly fell apart.

According to Yoshida, Sony was about to unveil the first Nintendo PlayStation at CES. However, just days before the announcement, Nintendo surprised everyone by partnering with Philips to create a CD-ROM add-on instead.

Everyone at Sony was shocked after years of working with Nintendo. Yoshida recalls that Nintendo’s planned CD-ROM console with Phillips seemed like a project that would never actually happen. He believes Nintendo announced it simply to break their agreement with Sony. Regardless of Nintendo’s motives, Sony felt completely betrayed. According to Yoshida, this left Sony with only two options: leave the video game industry altogether, or build their own gaming console.

Sony ultimately chose to compete directly with Nintendo. However, simply launching a competing console wasn’t enough for Sony’s leadership; they demanded a system that would significantly outperform Nintendo’s new console. According to Yoshida, Ken Kutaragi used this pressure from management to secure the funding necessary to create a console capable of real-time 3D graphics. This resulted in a much more powerful system than the initially planned console, which was intended to be based on Super NES technology.

Hell hath no fury like a Sony scorned

With funding from Sony Music secured, the PlayStation project officially launched. In February 1993, Ken Kutaragi assigned Kazuo Yoshida to his PlayStation third-party licensing team, recognizing Yoshida’s long-standing passion for video games. Yoshida, who was surrounded by engineers on the team, felt very fortunate to be included.

Yoshida’s team, guided by Sony Music Japan, launched the new console much like a record label promotes albums. They actively sought out both major and independent game publishers, trying to get them on board with Sony’s system. However, Yoshida and Kutaragi faced a double challenge: they needed to prove Sony could compete in gaming, and also convince publishers that 3D gaming was a worthwhile investment.

When I first started talking to companies about the PlayStation, only a few were excited about its ability to render 3D graphics in real time,” Yoshida explains. “Most people weren’t used to seeing 3D graphics at all. Fortunately, Sega released Virtua Fighter that same year – the first real 3D fighting game – and that’s when publishers started to realize the potential of 3D technology.

After we announced the PlayStation, my phone basically blew up with companies wanting to partner with us. Sega was our biggest rival with the Saturn, but honestly, they really showed everyone that 3D graphics weren’t just for racing and shooting games – they proved 3D could work for all kinds of games, and that was a huge step for the industry.

Look, a lot of people were unsure about 3D gaming back in the day, but Virtua Fighter eventually won them over. But honestly, Bandai Namco really believed in PlayStation from the start. I’ve heard they were Sony’s biggest supporters when the console first launched. They already had awesome 3D arcade games ready to go, which was huge because those older 16-bit consoles just couldn’t handle it. Ridge Racer and Tekken ended up being the games everyone saw when they first got a PlayStation, showing off just how good the graphics could be!

Honestly, getting Square (now Square Enix) on board was a huge deal for PlayStation in Japan. I remember hearing that Final Fantasy was massive on the Super Nintendo, but apparently, the creator, Sakaguchi-san, was really frustrated with Nintendo’s decision to stick with cartridges for the N64. He had this awesome vision of including full 3D movies in his games – like, really immersive cinematic stuff for his worlds. But cartridges just didn’t have enough space to make that happen. So, he was super interested in PlayStation because we were using CDs, which could actually hold all that extra content. It really changed everything.

Shmoozing Sake-guchi

PlayStation wasn’t the only game console vying for the popular game Final Fantasy VII. Sega was also interested, so Sony really wanted to secure the deal first. Fortunately, Sony had a strong advantage: a manager from Sony Music Japan who was excellent at building relationships. According to Yoshida, this manager spent a lot of time socializing with a key executive at Square, often inviting Yoshida along to dinners and karaoke. Through these efforts, he convinced Square that Sony would be a good partner. Ultimately, it was a combination of good relationships, sake, and karaoke that brought Final Fantasy VII to PlayStation – a typical way of doing business in Japan, according to Yoshida.

As everyone knows, the PlayStation was a massive success. It first launched in Japan in December 1994, selling 300,000 units within its first year, and quickly gained popularity in Europe and the US in 1995. According to Kenichiro Yoshida, a key to this success was Sony Music’s belief that game developers should be celebrated as artists. Unlike some companies who hid developers’ names to prevent them from being recruited by competitors, PlayStation actively promoted them. They encouraged interviews and aimed to make game creators recognizable stars.

So, after getting a ton of third-party support for the PlayStation, my job was done, and I moved over to working on games made by PlayStation. I helped with titles like Ape Escape and The Legend of Dragoon, which was awesome. But there was one game that almost didn’t happen: Ico. I had a team working on it, and the prototype looked incredible. The problem? It was a total performance nightmare on the PS1. Ueda-san – the creator – was really pushing the boundaries, but we were getting like, 10 frames per second. It just wasn’t playable, so I made the call to move the whole project over to the PS2 instead.

In 2000, Yoshida achieved a lifelong goal by becoming the head of development for Sony’s studios in America. Around the same time, Sony was celebrating its success – the PlayStation 2 had become the leading console of its generation, a remarkable turnaround for a company that was once a newcomer to the gaming world. Yoshida does express some regret over losing a few exclusive game deals – he often wonders why Capcom chose to release Resident Evil 4 on Nintendo GameCube, considering PlayStation had hosted the first three Resident Evil games – but as the PS2 era neared its end, Sony appeared unbeatable.

And then, it all went wrong.

The PS3 generation, and a cell of Sony’s own creation

The PlayStation 3 launched in 2006 with a high price tag—almost $500—and a complex design that made it hard for game developers. This combination of factors led to a difficult start for the PS3 and allowed Microsoft, a newer competitor in the gaming console market, to gain ground on Sony.

According to Yoshida, the early days of the PlayStation 3 were challenging. For the first two years, it was difficult to watch games release on both the PS3 and Xbox 360, with the Xbox 360 versions often running better. Although the PS3 was designed to be more powerful, it didn’t initially live up to that potential. While Sony’s own games like Resistance looked good, third-party games consistently suffered in comparisons to those on the Xbox 360, which was a real surprise.

Despite a challenging start, the PlayStation 3 ultimately built a fantastic collection of games you couldn’t play anywhere else. These story-driven, high-quality titles heavily influenced the impressive library of games on the PlayStation 4. According to Sony’s Yoshida, this success was due to the company’s willingness to let him delay games until they were truly ready, even if it meant increased costs – a decision his superiors, though initially hesitant, ultimately supported.

Yoshida explains that he consistently had to explain to the business team why the game’s release was being pushed back. However, the company recognized that taking the time to refine and polish the game would ultimately lead to higher sales than releasing a rushed product.

Yoshida remembers being surprised when Naughty Dog, known for the Uncharted series, decided to try something new. While Uncharted appealed to a wide audience like a summer blockbuster, this new project – an ambitious zombie game that became The Last of Us – was much more mature. He initially worried it might be too specialized, but the team’s skill created an even more successful franchise. He’s now thrilled they’re developing another original game, Intergalactic.

Unifying hardware and software

As the PlayStation 3 era ended and Ken Kutaragi stepped down, Kaz Hirai took over. Following this change, Yoshida dedicated himself to fostering better collaboration between developers and the hardware team while creating the PlayStation 4. This was a direct response to the challenges faced during the PS3’s development, aiming to avoid repeating those mistakes.

Kaz Hirai asked me to relocate to Japan and collaborate directly with the hardware engineering team,” Yoshida remembers. “I helped connect them with the appropriate people across Worldwide Studios, and I believe that’s a key reason why the PS4 and PS Vita became such developer-friendly consoles.

During his last years at Sony, Yoshida shifted his focus from major game development to the kind of unique, smaller games he loved when the PlayStation first launched. He found himself less excited by big-budget titles and more intrigued by the creative, independent games that often flew under the radar.

I’ve always been a big fan of independent games,” Yoshida says with a smile. “Even when we were at major shows like E3 and Gamescom showcasing our own big titles, I’d always make time to visit the indie game section. If I found a game I enjoyed, I’d take a picture with the developers and try to help get the word out. We were able to support games like Journey, and that’s what led me to champion indie games within PlayStation for the last five years I was there.

A new chapter

Starting in January 2025, Yoshida is working as a freelance consultant, directly supporting independent game developers. He’s a well-known supporter of indie games and a big fan of virtual reality, currently collaborating with the VR developer NDreams on their new game, Reach. However, his interest in VR goes way back – he explains he played a key role in bringing PSVR to life. “I helped develop the hardware for the original PSVR,” Yoshida says, “It actually began as a small project within Santa Monica Studio during the PlayStation 3 era.”

Sony Santa Monica created a makeshift VR headset using the PlayStation Move’s motion tracking technology as a side project. When Shuhei Yoshida tried it with a customized version of the PS3 game God of War, he was incredibly impressed. He described feeling fully immersed, saying, “It was like I was in God of War! I looked down and I was Kratos!” It was a truly remarkable experience.

Talking with Shuhei Yoshida – whether he’s enthusiastically discussing his new Xbox ROG Ally X or fondly remembering the PlayStation Vita – is a genuinely delightful experience. That playful energy is clear in everything he’s done at PlayStation over the last 39 years, from the unique game selections on the original PlayStation to the immersive fun of PSVR. PlayStation fans will certainly miss his creative and spirited approach.

Yoshida compares the original PlayStation era to today’s indie game scene, recalling a time filled with small, innovative teams and unexpected hits created by newcomers. Now, as he moves on from Sony to support independent developers, he’s eager to bring that same spirit of creativity to a larger audience.

2025-10-28 00:43