101-585: Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC ( SIE ) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation . It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game consoles and products. It is also the world's largest company in the video game industry based on its equity investments. In 1993, Sony and Sony Music Entertainment Japan jointly established Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) in Tokyo, which released
202-408: A subsidiary of Lost Boys on 1 January 2000. With de Ronde as managing director , the new company employed 25 people, growing to 40 by November 2000. Hermen Hulst was hired from a consulting firm to replace de Ronde as managing director the following year. In 2001, when Lost Boys merged with Swedish media company IconMediaLab, Lost Boys Games was spun off into an independent entity, though under
303-416: A subsidiary of multimedia conglomerate company Lost Boys . Lost Boys Games became independent the following year and was acquired by Media Republic in 2003, renaming the studio to Guerrilla Games before being purchased by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2005. As of June 2021, the company employs 360 people under the leadership of joint studio directors Jan-Bart van Beek, Joel Eschler and Hella Schmidt. It
404-600: A 5% stake in the video game publisher Devolver Digital . On December 10, 2021, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the acquisition of the Seattle-based studio Valkyrie Entertainment. Sony Interactive Entertainment announced its intent to purchase Bungie for $ 3.6 billion in January 2022. This deal closed on July 15, 2022. Under terms of this deal, Bungie remained an independent development studio and publisher, allowing Bungie to pursue development outside Sony's platforms, and
505-654: A 70 percent share of the market when it decided to pull the plug on the format in 2010. Sony still develops magnetic tape storage technologies along with IBM , and are one of only two manufacturers of Linear Tape-Open (LTO) cartridges. In 1998, Sony launched the Memory Stick format, the flash memory cards for use in Sony lines of digital cameras and portable music players. It has seen little support outside of Sony's own products, with Secure Digital cards (SD) commanding considerably greater popularity. Sony has made updates to
606-449: A Super Famicom with a built-in CD-ROM drive, named the "Play Station" (also known as SNES-CD ). However, a day after the announcement at CES, Nintendo announced that it would be breaking its partnership with Sony, opting to go with Philips instead but using the same technology. The deal was broken by Nintendo after they were unable to come to an agreement on how revenue would be split between
707-449: A cloud-based gaming service. In August 2012, Studio Liverpool , developer of the Wipeout and Formula One series, was closed. In August 2012, Sony Computer Entertainment announced PlayStation Mobile for Vita and PlayStation certified devices, with developers such as THQ , Team17 and Action Button Entertainment signed up. A press release was published on August 20, 2013, announcing
808-916: A company which specializes in building AI-powered solutions to improve video delivery. In the UK in November 2023, SIE was unable to dismiss a lawsuit from consumer advocates challenging the requirement that all digital content for the PlayStation systems be sold through the PlayStation Store along with the 30% fee that SIE takes for each sale. The suit has potential for damages up to £6.3 billion ( US$ 7.9 billion ). On November 27, 2023, SIE signed Shift Up studio to become their first Korean second-party developers. Sony Group Corporation Sony Group Corporation (formerly Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. and Sony Corporation )
909-751: A completely separate financial entity owned by Sony, so as to retain the project and maintain relationships with Philips for the MMCD development project (which helped lead to the creation of the DVD ) In 2021, the WIPO 's annual review of the World Intellectual Property Indicators report ranked Sony's as ninth in the world for the number of patent applications published under the PCT System . 1,793 patent applications were published by Sony during 2020. This position
1010-457: A focus on reducing the major losses from the television business. In February 2014, Sony announced the sale of its Vaio PC division to a new corporation owned by investment fund Japan Industrial Partners and spinning its TV division into its own corporation as to make it more nimble to turn the unit around from past losses totaling $ 7.8 billion over a decade. Later that month, they announced that they would be closing 20 stores. In April,
1111-513: A format war with DVD-Audio . Still, neither gained a major foothold with the general public. CDs had been preferred by consumers because of the ubiquitous presence of CD drives in consumer devices until the early 2000s when the iPod and streaming services became available. In 2015, Sony introduced LDAC , a proprietary audio coding technology which allows streaming high-resolution audio over Bluetooth connections at up to 990 kbit/s at 32 bit/96 kHz. Sony also contributed it as part of
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#17330862301881212-399: A life insurance company in 1979, one of its many peripheral businesses. Amid a global recession in the early 1980s, electronics sales dropped and the company was forced to cut prices. Sony's profits fell sharply. "It's over for Sony", one analyst concluded. "The company's best days are behind it." Around that time, Norio Ohga took up the role of president. He encouraged the development of
1313-783: A mobile game development studio with offices in Helsinki and Berlin. Savage Game Studios joined the newly created PlayStation Studios Mobile Division, an independent operation from console development. On August 31, 2022, it was announced that Sony Interactive Entertainment has acquired a 14.09% stake in FromSoftware . On April 20, 2023, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that it had acquired Firewalk Studios from ProbablyMonster. On August 24, 2023, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced it had acquired audio company Audeze, who makes gaming headphones. On November 2, 2023, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that it would acquire UK-based iSize,
1414-813: A new development office in the country as in 2020 to provide art and animation as part of Worldwide Studios' efforts to make exclusive games for PlayStation consoles. The studio will be Sony Interactive Entertainment's first studio in Southeast Asia. SIE announced the formation of PlayStation Studios in May 2020 to be formally introduced alongside the PlayStation 5 later in 2020. PlayStation Studios will serve as an umbrella organization for its first-party game development studios, including Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Santa Monica Studio, Media Molecule and Guerrilla Games, as well as used for branding on games developed by studios brought in by Sony in work-for-hire situations. Sony plans to use
1515-463: A new media company, Media Republic, which acquired 75% of Lost Boys Games in 2003. Shortly thereafter, in July 2003, Lost Boys Games was renamed Guerrilla to reflect the style of its new parent company. The developer soon began work on its two titles: Killzone (in development for Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 ) and Shellshock: Nam '67 (in development for Eidos Interactive for
1616-563: A powerful exporter during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, supplying the U.S. Military with bomb parts used in the Vietnam War . It also helped to significantly improve American perceptions of "made in Japan" products. Known for its production quality, Sony was able to charge above-market prices for its consumer electronics and resisted lowering prices. In 1971, Masaru Ibuka handed the position of president over to his co-founder Akio Morita. Sony began
1717-633: A production studio that adapts the company's extensive catalogue of video game titles for film and television. The new venture is headed by Asad Qizilbash and overseen by Shawn Layden, chairman of Worldwide Studios. On August 19, 2019, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that the company had entered into definitive agreements to acquire Insomniac Games . The acquisition was completed on November 15, 2019, where Sony paid ¥ 24,895 million (US$ 229 million) in cash. On November 8, 2019, Gobind Singh Deo , Malaysia's Minister of Communications and Multimedia , announced that Sony Interactive Entertainment would open
1818-731: A slogan known as "make.believe" in 2009. Despite some successes, the company faced continued struggles in the mid- to late-2000s. In 2012, Kazuo Hirai was promoted to president and CEO, replacing Stringer. Shortly thereafter, Hirai outlined his company-wide initiative, named "One Sony" to revive Sony from years of financial losses and bureaucratic management structure, which proved difficult for former CEO Stringer to accomplish, partly due to differences in business culture and native languages between Stringer and some of Sony's Japanese divisions and subsidiaries. Hirai outlined three major areas of focus for Sony's electronics business, which include imaging technology, gaming and mobile technology, as well as
1919-454: A subsidiary and, at the same time, a holding company for Sony's music businesses, along with SMEJ . Guerrilla Games Guerrilla B.V. ( trade name : Guerrilla Games ) is a Dutch first-party video game developer based in Amsterdam and part of PlayStation Studios . The company was founded as Lost Boys Games in January 2000 through the merger of three smaller development studios as
2020-573: A television of at least 55 inches (140 centimeters) with a price higher than $ 2,500 as well as second largest TV brand by market share and, as of 2020, the third largest television manufacturer in the world by annual sales figures. Although not being a part of any traditional keiretsu , Sony has a weak tie to the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), which traces its roots to the Mitsui zaibatsu . This connection dates back to
2121-570: A wholly owned subsidiary through a takeover bid. On 1 April 2021, Sony Corporation was renamed Sony Group Corporation. On the same day, Sony Mobile Communications Inc. absorbed Sony Electronics Corporation, Sony Imaging Products & Solutions Inc., and Sony Home Entertainment & Sound Products Inc. and changed its trade name to Sony Corporation. Sony has historically been notable for creating its own in-house standards for new recording and storage technologies, instead of adopting those of other manufacturers and standards bodies, while its success in
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#17330862301882222-524: Is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Minato, Tokyo , Japan. The Sony Group comprises entities such as Sony Corporation , Sony Semiconductor Solutions , Sony Entertainment (including Sony Pictures and Sony Music Group ), Sony Interactive Entertainment , Sony Financial Group , and others. Sony was established in 1946 as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita . This electronics company, known for creating products such as
2323-626: Is best known for the Killzone and Horizon game series. Guerrilla is the result of a merger between three Dutch video game studios: Orange Games, Digital Infinity, and Formula Game Development. Orange Games was founded in 1993 by Arjan Brussee , the co- designer of the 1994 game Jazz Jackrabbit ; Digital Infinity was founded by Arnout van der Kamp in 1995; and Formula was founded by Martin de Ronde in 1998 and sold to Lost Boys (a multimedia conglomerate company owned by Michiel Mol ) in 1999. The three studios merged, forming Lost Boys Games as
2424-536: Is currently supporting Everybody's Golf on Android and iOS. ForwardWorks was later moved to another division within Sony becoming a subsidiary to Sony Music and therefore no longer a unit within Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was reported in December 2016 by multiple news outlets that Sony was considering restructuring its U.S. operations by merging its TV and film business with SIE. According to
2525-501: Is largely offered in two forms, either chips embedded in smartphones or plastic cards with chips embedded in them. Sony plans to implement this technology in train systems across Asia. In 2019, Sony launched the ELTRES, the company's proprietary low-power wide-area wireless communication ( LPWAN ) standard. Until 1991, Sony had little direct involvement with the video game industry. The company supplied components for other consoles, such as
2626-443: Is organized into the following business segments: Game & Network Services (G&NS), Music, Pictures, Electronics Products & Solutions (EP&S), Imaging & Sensing Solutions (I&SS), Financial Services, and Others. Usually, each business segment has a handful of corresponding intermediate holding companies under which all the related businesses are folded into, such as Columbia Records being part of Sony Music Group ,
2727-527: Is produced exclusively for the PS family of consoles. Shuhei Yoshida was named as president of Worldwide Studios on May 16, 2008, replacing Kazuo Hirai , who was serving interim after Harrison left the company in early 2008. On December 8, 2005, video game developer Guerrilla Games , developers of the Killzone series , was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment as part of Worldwide Studios. On January 24, 2006, video game developer Zipper Interactive , developers of
2828-573: Is up from their previous ranking as 13th in 2019 with 1,566 applications. Best known for its electronic products, Sony offers a wide variety of product lines in many areas. At its peak, it was dubbed as a "corporate octopus", for its sprawling ventures from private insurance to chemicals to cosmetics to home shopping to a Tokyo-based French food joint, in addition its core businesses such as electronics and entertainment. Even after it has unwound many business units including Sony Chemicals and Vaio PC, Sony still runs diverse businesses. As of 2020, Sony
2929-584: The Socom series , was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment as part of Worldwide Studios. In March 2006, Sony announced the online network for its forthcoming PlayStation 3 (PS3) system at the 2006 PlayStation Business Briefing meeting in Tokyo, Japan , tentatively named "PlayStation Network Platform" and eventually called just PlayStation Network (PSN). Sony also stated that the service would always be connected, free, and include multiplayer support. The launch date for
3030-567: The ATRAC brand, against the more widely used MP3. Until late 2004, Sony's Network Walkman line of digital portable music players did not support the MP3 standard natively. In 2004, Sony built upon the MiniDisc format by releasing Hi-MD . Hi-MD allows the playback and recording of audio on newly introduced 1 GB Hi-MD discs in addition to playback and recording on regular MiniDiscs. In addition to saving audio on
3131-795: The Android Open Source Project starting from Android 8.0 " Oreo ", enabling every OEM to integrate this standard into their own Android devices freely. However the decoder library is proprietary , so receiving devices require licenses. On 17 September 2019, the Japan Audio Society (JAS) certified LDAC with their Hi-Res Audio Wireless certification. Currently the only codecs with the Hi-Res Audio Wireless certification are LDAC and LHDC , another competing standard. Sony demonstrated an optical digital audio disc in 1977 and soon joined hands with Philips, another major contender for
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3232-613: The Crystal LED Display. Sony used the Compact Cassette format in many of its tape recorders and players, including the Walkman , the world's first portable music player. Sony introduced the MiniDisc format in 1992 as an alternative to Philips DCC or Digital Compact Cassette and as a successor to the Compact Cassette. Since the introduction of MiniDisc, Sony has attempted to promote its own audio compression technologies under
3333-491: The PlayStation 5 . In April 2023, Guerrilla Games announced multiple changes to its studio management. Co-studio head Angie Smets left the studio to become the new Head of Development Strategy at PlayStation Studios , with co-studio head Michiel van der Leeuw changing roles in which he would focus on the continuing development of the Decima engine. As part of these changes, Joel Eschler and Hella Schmidt joined Jan-Bart van Beek as
3434-651: The PlayStation Network and Sony Entertainment Network , including the sale of game titles and content on the PlayStation Store , as well as offering PlayStation Plus. In 2016, SCE and SNEI jointly established Sony Interactive Entertainment and it was announced the new entity would be headquartered in the United States . Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. (SCEI) was jointly established by Sony and its subsidiary Sony Music Entertainment Japan in 1993 to handle
3535-523: The Video8 format . Video8 and the follow-on hi-band Hi8 format became popular in the consumer camcorder market. In 1987 Sony launched the 4 mm DAT or Digital Audio Tape as a new digital audio tape standard. Sony held a patent for its proprietary Trinitron until 1996. Sony introduced the Triluminos Display, the company's proprietary color reproduction enhancing technology, in 2004, featured in
3636-577: The "PlayStation Studios" branding on both PlayStation 5 and new PlayStation 4 games to help with consumer recognition, though the branding was not ready for some of Sony's mid-2020 releases like The Last of Us Part II . SIE's parent Sony bought a minority stake in Epic Games for $ 250 million in July 2020, giving the company about a 1.4% stake in Epic. The investment came after Sony helped with Epic's development of new technologies in its Unreal Engine 5 , which it
3737-580: The 1950s when it was the only bank the company dealt with. Sony is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (in which it is a constituent of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX Core30 indeces) with an additional listing in the form of American depositary receipts listed in the New York Stock Exchange (traded since 1961, making it one of the oldest Japanese company to be listed on an American exchange), and
3838-513: The 2015 E3 conference, Guerrilla unveiled a new intellectual property, Horizon Zero Dawn described as a " post-apocalyptic open world action role-playing game that follows the story of Aloy, a young huntress who inhabits a world that is overrun by machines, and attempts to journey across several lands to uncover her past." In 2017, Guerrilla released Horizon Zero Dawn on the PlayStation 4 . The game received widespread positive acclaim from various critics. An expansion, The Frozen Wilds ,
3939-511: The Memory Stick format with Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick Micro . The company has also released USB flash drive products, branded under the Micro Vault line. Sony introduced FeliCa , a contactless IC card technology primarily used in contactless payment , as a result of the company's joint development and commercialization of Near-Field Communication (NFC) with Philips. The standard
4040-567: The PS3 was announced by Hirai at the pre-E3 conference held at the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California , on May 8, 2006. The PS3 was released in Japan on November 11, 2006, and the U.S. date was November 17, 2006. The PSN was also launched in November 2006. On November 30, 2006, president of SCEI, Ken Kutaragi , was appointed as chairman of SCEI, while Hirai, then president of SCEA,
4141-512: The PS4 was scheduled to be the first Sony video game console to be officially and legally released in China since the PlayStation 2. On March 6, 2014, Sony Computer Entertainment of America President and CEO, Tretton, announced he was resigning from his position at the end of the month, citing a mutual agreement between himself and SCEA for the cessation of his contract. Tretton had worked at SCEA since 1995 and
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4242-594: The PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 . By late 2005, many companies, like Eidos Interactive , eyed purchasing Guerrilla; ultimately, Sony Computer Entertainment bought out the entirety of Guerrilla in December 2005. Guerrilla went on to release Killzone: Liberation for the PlayStation Portable in October 2006, Killzone 2 for the PlayStation 3 in February 2009, and Killzone 3 for
4343-675: The PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows ). Both titles would be released the following year to mixed reception, however Killzone enjoyed pre-release hype and anticipation, and despite some backfire effect due to the media hype, Killzone went on to sell over a million copies worldwide, earning Greatest Hits and Platinum status in North America and Europe respectively. Guerrilla signed an exclusive development agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment in March 2004, that would see future development solely for Sony's line of video game consoles,
4444-574: The PlayStation 3 in February 2011. By February 2012, co-founder Brussee had left the studio to join Visceral Games . As of June 2018, Guerrilla employs 250 people in its Amsterdam offices; it planned to move into a new building on Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal in early 2019 and expand to at least 400 employees in this new location. In November 2019, Hulst was appointed the head of Worldwide Studios and Angie Smets, Jan-Bart van Beek and Michiel van der Leeuw became joint studio heads in his place. During
4545-406: The U.S. market and launched the new industry of consumer microelectronics." By the mid-1950s, American teens had begun buying portable transistor radios in huge numbers, helping to propel the fledgling industry from an estimated 100,000 units in 1955 to 5 million units by the end of 1968. Sony co-founder Akio Morita founded Sony Corporation of America in 1960. In the process, he was struck by
4646-468: The U.S. on October 26, 2000. On July 1, 2002, chairman of SCEI, Shigeo Maruyama , was replaced by Tamotsu Iba as chairman. Jack Tretton and Phil Harrison were also promoted to senior vice presidents of SCE. The PlayStation Portable (PSP) was SCEI's first foray into the small handheld console market. Its development was first announced during SCE's E3 conference in 2003, and it was officially unveiled during their E3 conference on May 11, 2004. The system
4747-603: The acquisition of Firesprite , a Liverpool-based developer with over 250 employees. The studio has multiple projects in development, with the projects focusing on genres outside the core offerings of PlayStation Studios. On September 29, 2021, Firesprite announced that it had acquired Fabrik Games, bringing the studio's headcount to 265. On September 30, 2021, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that Bluepoint Games had joined PlayStation Studios, with Bluepoint working on original content instead of remaking an older game. On November 4, 2021, Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired
4848-620: The acquisition of a minority stake in Discord , which would be integrated into the PlayStation Network by early 2022. On June 29, 2021, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the acquisition of Housemarque . On July 1, 2021, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the acquisition of Nixxes Software . Jim Ryan said later that month that they plan to work with Nixxes to release more of their PlayStation games to personal computers. On September 8, 2021, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced
4949-465: The beginning of a run of exceptional managerial turnover. The PS console was released in the United States on September 9, 1995. As part of a worldwide restructuring at the beginning of 1997, SCEA and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) were both re-established as wholly owned subsidiaries of SCEI. The launch of the second PS console, the PlayStation 2 was released in Japan on March 4, 2000, and
5050-412: The board. Eventually, Sony President Ohga decided to retain the project after being reminded by Kutaragi of the humiliation he suffered from Nintendo. Nevertheless, due to strong opposition from a majority present at the meeting as well as widespread internal opposition to the project by the older generation of Sony executives, Kutaragi and his team had to be shifted from Sony's headquarters to Sony Music ,
5151-437: The compact disc (CD) in the 1970s and 1980s, and of the PlayStation in the early 1990s. Ohga went on to purchase CBS Records in 1988 and Columbia Pictures in 1989, greatly expanding Sony's media presence. Ohga would succeed Morita as chief executive officer in 1989. Under the vision of co-founder Akio Morita and his successors, the company had aggressively expanded into new businesses. Part of its motivation for doing so
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#17330862301885252-514: The company announced that they would be selling 9.5 million shares in Square Enix (roughly 8.2 percent of the game company's total shares) in a deal worth approximately $ 48 million. In May 2014 the company announced it was forming two joint ventures with Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group to manufacture and market Sony's PlayStation game consoles and associated software in China. In 2015, Sony purchased Toshiba's image sensor business. It
5353-524: The company in 1995 and was appointed as chairman of SCEE in 2003, and then president in 2005. His role of president and CEO of SCEE would be taken over by Andrew House, who joined Sony Corporation in 1990. The PSP Go was released on October 1, 2009, for North America and Europe, and on November 1, 2009, for Japan. On April 1, 2010, SCEI was restructured to bring together Sony's mobile electronics and personal computers divisions. The main Japanese division of SCEI
5454-425: The company's struggling media businesses, encouraging blockbusters such as Spider-Man while cutting 9,000 jobs. He hoped to sell off peripheral business and focus the company again on electronics. Furthermore, he aimed to increase cooperation between business units, which he described as "silos" operating in isolation from one another. In a bid to provide a unified brand for its global operations, Sony introduced
5555-524: The company's ventures into the video game industry . The original PlayStation console was released on December 3, 1994, in Japan. The company's North American operations, Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA), were originally established in May 1995 as a division of Sony Electronic Publishing . Located in Foster City, California , the North American office was originally headed by Steve Race. In
5656-721: The continued ownership of Mol. Lost Boys Games began developing Game Boy Color games with original characters, but the studio found that publishers would rather release games including licensed characters. Because the studio did not want to compromise on significantly altering the characters it had created, it was unable to find a publisher for them. Consequently, Lost Boys Games moved on to work-for-hire projects, creating four handheld games: Dizzy's Candy Quest (Game Boy Color, 2001), Rhino Rumble (Game Boy Color, 2002), Black Belt Challenge ( Game Boy Advance , 2002), and Invader (Game Boy Advance, 2002). The latter two games were published by Xicat Interactive . Mol later established
5757-462: The discs, Hi-MD allows the storage of computer files such as documents, videos and photos. In 1993, Sony challenged the industry standard Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound format with a newer and more advanced proprietary motion picture digital audio format called SDDS (Sony Dynamic Digital Sound). This format employed eight channels (7.1) of audio opposed to just six used in Dolby Digital 5.1 at
5858-477: The early years owes to a smooth capitalization on the Digital Compact Cassette standard introduced by Philips , with which Sony went on to enjoy a decades-long technological relationship in various areas. Sony (either alone or with partners) has introduced several of the most popular recording formats, including the 3.5-inch floppy disk , compact disc and Blu-ray disc. Sony introduced U-matic ,
5959-468: The film studio. According to one report, Sony was set to make a final decision on the possibility of the merger of the TV, film, & gaming businesses by the end of its fiscal year in March of the following year (2017). In 2017, Sony sold its lithium-ion battery business to Murata Manufacturing . In 2019, Sony merged its mobile, TV and camera businesses. On 1 April 2020, Sony Electronics Corporation
6060-424: The financial sector. In 2021, Sony transformed into a holding company, handing over the name Sony Corporation to its subsidiary as the electronics company. Sony, with its 55 percent market share in the image sensor market, is the largest manufacturer of image sensors, the second largest camera manufacturer, and is among the semiconductor sales leaders. It is the world's largest player in the premium TV market for
6161-570: The former SCE, SIE is headquartered in San Mateo, California, and oversees the entire PlayStation brand, regional subsidiaries, and content business. SIE's Japanese branch, Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc, was established as a direct subsidiary of Sony Corporation. On March 24, 2016, Sony announced the establishment of ForwardWorks, a new studio dedicated to producing "full-fledged" games based on Sony intellectual properties for mobile platforms such as smartphones; it would later develop Disgaea RPG and
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#17330862301886262-490: The global market, which required labeling their products with a short and easy brand name. While looking for a romanized name, they at first strongly considered using their initials, TTK. The primary reason they did not is that the railway company Tokyo Kyuko was known as TTK. The company occasionally used the syllabic acronym "Totsuko" in Japan, but during his visit to the United States, Morita discovered that Americans had trouble pronouncing that name. Another early name that
6363-575: The headquarters of the company moved from Minami-Aoyama to the Sony City (Sony Corporation's headquarters) in Kōnan, Minato, Tokyo . On April 20, 2011, SCEI was the victim of an attack on its PlayStation Network system, which also affected its online division, Sony Online Entertainment . On August 1, 2011, video game developer Sucker Punch Productions , developers of the Sly Cooper and Infamous series,
6464-666: The intellectual property of the cloud gaming service OnLive , and that its services would cease by the end of the month. The beta version of Sony's first-ever cloud-based television service, PlayStation Vue (PSVue), was launched in the U.S. in November 2014. It was only offered on an invite-only basis for PS3 and PS4 users, prior to its official launch in early 2015. Sony signed deals with major networks, including CBS, Discovery, Fox, and Viacom, so that users can view live streaming video, as well as catch up and on-demand content, from more than 75 channels, such as Comedy Central and Nickelodeon. Although pricing and release dates for other regions
6565-513: The marketbase and became the worldwide standard for consumer VCRs. Betamax is, for all practical purposes, an obsolete format. Sony's professional-oriented component video format called Betacam , which was derived from Betamax, was used until 2016 when Sony announced it was stopping production of all remaining 1/2-inch video tape recorders and players, including the Digital Betacam format. In 1985, Sony launched their Handycam products and
6666-420: The mobility of employees between American companies, which was unheard of in Japan at that time. When he returned to Japan, he encouraged experienced, middle-aged employees of other companies to reevaluate their careers and consider joining Sony. The company filled many positions in this manner, and inspired other Japanese companies to do the same. Moreover, Sony played a major role in the development of Japan as
6767-548: The months prior to the release of the PlayStation in Western markets, the operations were restructured: All video game marketing from Sony Imagesoft was folded into SCEA in July 1995, with most affected employees transferred from Santa Monica to Foster City . On August 7, 1995, Race unexpectedly resigned and was named CEO of Spectrum HoloByte three days later. He was replaced by Sony Electronics veteran Martin Homlish. This proved to be
6868-511: The release date of the PlayStation 4 (PS4) console. On that date, SCEI introduced the CUH-1000A series system, and announced the launch date as November 15, 2013, for North American markets and November 29, 2013, for European, Australasian and Central and South American markets. Following a January 2014 announcement by the Chinese government that the country's 14-year game console ban would be lifted,
6969-439: The reports, such a restructuring would have placed Sony Pictures under Sony Interactive's CEO, Andrew House, though House would not have taken over day-to-day operations of the film studio. According to one report, Sony was set to make a final decision on the possibility of the merger of the TV, film, and gaming businesses by the end of its fiscal year in March of the following year (2017). However, judging by Sony's activity in 2017,
7070-425: The rumored merger never materialized. On January 8, 2019, Sony announced that the company had entered into a definitive agreement for Sony Interactive Entertainment to acquire Audiokinetic . On March 20, 2019, Sony Interactive Entertainment launched the educational video game platform toio in Japan. On May 20, 2019, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that the company had launched PlayStation Productions ,
7171-633: The sound chip for the Super Famicom from Nintendo , and operated a video game studio, Sony Imagesoft . As part of a joint project between Nintendo and Sony that began as early as 1988, the two companies worked to create a CD-ROM version of the Super Famicom, though Nintendo denied the existence of the Sony deal as late as March 1991. At the Consumer Electronics Show in June 1991, Sony revealed
7272-580: The specific use of archival data storage, in 1986 and 1988 respectively. In the early 1990s, two high-density optical storage standards were being developed: one was the MultiMedia Compact Disc (MMCD), backed by Philips and Sony, and the other was the Super Density Disc (SD), supported by Toshiba and many others. Philips and Sony abandoned their MMCD format and agreed upon Toshiba's SD format with only one modification. The unified disc format
7373-556: The storage technology, to establish a worldwide standard. In 1983, the two company jointly announced the Compact Disc (CD). In 1984, Sony launched the Discman series, an expansion of the Walkman brand to portable CD players. Sony began to improve performance and capacity of the novel format. It launched write-once optical discs (WO) and magneto-optical discs which were around 125MB size for
7474-505: The technologies developed for the company's optical disc products. In 1983, Sony introduced 90 mm micro diskettes, better known as 3.5-inch (89 mm) floppy disks , which it had developed at a time when there were 4" floppy disks, and many variations from different companies, to replace the then on-going 5.25" floppy disks. Sony had great success and the format became dominant. 3.5" floppy disks gradually became obsolete as they were replaced by current media formats. Sony held more than
7575-509: The time. Ultimately, SDDS has been vastly overshadowed by the preferred DTS ( Digital Theatre System ) and Dolby Digital standards in the motion picture industry. SDDS was solely developed for use in the theatre circuit; Sony never intended to develop a home theatre version of SDDS. Sony and Philips jointly developed the Sony-Philips digital interface format ( S/PDIF ) and the high-fidelity audio system SACD . The latter became entrenched in
7676-422: The transistor radio TR-55 , the home video tape recorder CV-2000 , the portable audio player Walkman , and the compact disc player CDP-101 , embarked on diverse business ventures. In 1988, Sony acquired CBS Records , and in 1989, it acquired Columbia Pictures . The company also introduced the home video game console PlayStation in 1994, which was the first of the eponymous brand . In Japan, Sony expanded into
7777-431: The two companies. The breaking of the partnership infuriated Sony President Norio Ohga , who responded by appointing Kutaragi with the responsibility of developing the PlayStation project to rival Nintendo. At that time, negotiations were still on-going between Nintendo and Sony, with Nintendo offering Sony a "non-gaming role" regarding their new partnership with Philips. This proposal was swiftly rejected by Kutaragi who
7878-523: The video game console PlayStation in Japan the following year and subsequently in the United States and Europe the year after. It founded the branches Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) in May 1995 (in Foster City, California ) and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) in July 1995 (in Liverpool ). In 2010, Sony underwent a corporate split and established Sony Network Entertainment International (SNEI), which provided gaming-related services through
7979-455: The world's first LED-backlit LCD televisions. It was widely used in other Sony's products as well, including computer monitors, laptops, and smartphones. In 2013, Sony released a new line of televisions with an improved version of the technology, which incorporated quantum dots in the backlight system. It was the first commercial use of quantum dots. In 2012, the company revealed a prototype of an ultrafine RGB LED display, which it calls
8080-510: The world's first videocassette format, in 1971, but the standard was unpopular for domestic use due to the high price. The company subsequently launched the Betamax format in 1975. Sony was involved in the videotape format war of the early 1980s, when they were marketing the Betamax system for video cassette recorders against the VHS format developed by JVC . In the end, VHS gained critical mass in
8181-504: Was a loan word in Japanese, which connoted smart and presentable young men, which Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka considered themselves to be. The first Sony-branded product, the TR-55 transistor radio , appeared in 1955, but the company name did not change to Sony until January 1958. At the time of the change, it was extremely unusual for a Japanese company to use Roman letters to spell its name instead of writing it in kanji . The move
8282-457: Was a founding member of the company's executive team. He was involved in the launch of all PlayStation platforms in North America, including the original PlayStation, PS2, PSP, PS3, PSN, PS Vita, and PS4. Tretton was replaced by Shawn Layden , who was the vice-president and chief operating officer (COO) of Sony Network Entertainment International, effective April 1, 2014. On April 2, 2015, it was announced that Sony Computer Entertainment had acquired
8383-504: Was also acquired. In January 2012, BigBig Studios was closed and Cambridge Studio—renamed Guerrilla Cambridge —becoming a sister studio of Guerrilla Games. In March 2012, Zipper Interactive , developers of the SOCOM series, MAG and Unit 13 , was closed. On June 25, 2012, Hirai retired as chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment; however, he remains on the board of directors. On July 2, 2012, Sony Computer Entertainment acquired Gaikai ,
8484-520: Was called DVD and was introduced in 1997. Sony was one of the leading developers of the Blu-ray optical disc format, the newest standard for disc-based content delivery. The first Blu-ray players became commercially available in 2006. The format emerged as the standard for HD media over the competing format, Toshiba's HD DVD , after a two-year-long high-definition optical disc format war . Sony's laser communication devices for small satellites rely on
8585-477: Was established as an intermediate holding company to own and oversee its electronics and IT solutions businesses. On 19 May 2020, the company announced that it would change its name to Sony Group Corporation as of 1 April 2021. Subsequently, Sony Electronics Corporation would be renamed to Sony Corporation. On the same day the company announced that it would turn Sony Financial Holdings (currently Sony Financial Group), of which Sony already owns 65.06% of shares, to
8686-497: Was facing increasing criticism over his work with regard to entering the video game industry from within Sony. Negotiations officially ended in May 1992 and in order to decide the fate of the PlayStation project, a meeting was held in June 1992, consisting of Sony President Ohga, PlayStation Head Kutaragi and several senior members of Sony's board. At the meeting, Kutaragi unveiled a proprietary CD-ROM-based system he had been working on which involved playing video games with 3D graphics to
8787-575: Was first revealed at the 2020 PS5 Future of Gaming event on 11 June 2020. It is a sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn . The game released on 18 February 2022. In August 2020, Guerrilla Games moved into their new studio space. On 4 January 2022, Guerilla and Firesprite revealed that a new Horizon game is in the works for PlayStation VR2 titled Horizon Call of the Mountain . In December 2022, Sony announced that an expansion for Horizon Forbidden West named Burning Shores will be releasing on 19 April 2023 on
8888-544: Was intended to help bolster live service games for SIE. Sony Interactive Entertainment acquired Jade Raymond 's Haven Studios in March 2022 and incorporating it as part of PlayStation Studios, making the studio Sony's first development team in Canada. On July 18, 2022, Sony Interactive Entertainment and Repeat.gg announced that Sony Interactive Entertainment had acquired Repeat.gg. On August 29, 2022, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that it had acquired Savage Game Studios,
8989-509: Was joined by Akio Morita to establish a company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo ( 東京通信工業 , Tōkyō Tsūshin Kōgyō , Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation) . The company built Japan's first tape recorder , called the Type-G. In 1958, the company changed its name to "Sony". Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo founders Morita and Ibuka realized that to achieve success and grow, their business had to expand to
9090-435: Was not publicized, Sony confirmed that PSVue will eventually be available on iPad , followed by other Sony and non-Sony devices. On January 26, 2016, Sony announced the reorganization and integration of Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Entertainment Network International , establishing a new company called Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) on April 1, 2016, under the umbrella of Sony Corporation of America . Unlike
9191-414: Was not without opposition: TTK's principal bank at the time, Mitsui , had strong feelings about the name. They pushed for a name such as Sony Electronic Industries, or Sony Teletech. Akio Morita was firm, however, as he did not want the company name tied to any particular industry. Eventually, both Ibuka and Mitsui Bank's chairman gave their approval. According to Schiffer, Sony's TR-63 radio "cracked open
9292-579: Was positioning for use in powering games on the upcoming PlayStation 5 to take advantage of its high speed internal storage solutions for in-game streaming . In March 2021, SIE announced that it and RTS acquired the assets and properties of the Evolution Championship Series as a joint venture. On April 13, 2021, Epic Games announced that it received an additional $ 200 million strategic investment from SIE's parent Sony Group Corporation. On May 3, 2021, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced
9393-589: Was promoted to president of SCEI. On April 26, 2007, Ken Kutaragi resigned from his position as chairman of SCEI and group CEO, passing on his duties to the recently appointed president of SCE, Hirai. On September 20, 2007, video game developers Evolution Studios and Bigbig Studios , creators of the MotorStorm series , were acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment as part of Worldwide Studios. On April 15, 2009, David Reeves, president and CEO of SCE Europe, announced his forthcoming resignation from his post. He had joined
9494-560: Was ranked 88th on the 2021 Fortune Global 500 list. In 2023, the company was ranked 57th in the Forbes Global 2000 . Sony began in the wake of World War II. In 1946, Masaru Ibuka started an electronics shop in Shirokiya, a department store building in the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo . The company started with a capital of ¥190,000 and a total of eight employees. On 7 May 1946, Ibuka
9595-543: Was released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in Europe and Australia on September 1, 2005. On September 1, 2005, SCEI formed SCE Worldwide Studios , a single internal entity to oversee all wholly-owned development studios within SCEI. It became responsible for the creative and strategic direction of development and production of all computer entertainment software by all SCEI-owned studios—all software
9696-403: Was released in November 2017. By February 2018, over 7.6 million copies had been sold, increasing to over 10 million a year later, making it one of the best-selling PlayStation 4 games . In March 2020, Hermen Hulst confirmed in an interview that Horizon Zero Dawn would receive a PC port. The PC version was released on 7 August 2020. The next game in development, Horizon Forbidden West ,
9797-427: Was reported in December 2016 by multiple news outlets that Sony was considering restructuring its U.S. operations by merging its TV & film business, Sony Pictures Entertainment, with its gaming business, Sony Interactive Entertainment. According to the reports, such a restructuring would have placed Sony Pictures under Sony Interactive's CEO, Andrew House, though House would not have taken over day-to-day operations of
9898-494: Was temporarily renamed "SNE Platform Inc." (SNEP) on April 1, 2010, and was split into two divisions that focused on different aspects: "Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc.", consisting of 1,300 employees who focused on the console business, and the network service business consisting of 60 to 70 employees. The network service business of SCEI was absorbed into Sony Corp's Network Products & Service Group (NPSG), which had already been headed by Hirai since April 2009. The original SCEI
9999-487: Was the pursuit of "convergence", linking film, music and digital electronics via the Internet. This expansion proved unrewarding and unprofitable, threatening Sony's ability to charge a premium on its products as well as its brand name. In 2005, Howard Stringer replaced Nobuyuki Idei as chief executive officer, marking the first time that a foreigner had run a major Japanese electronics firm. Stringer helped to reinvigorate
10100-426: Was then dissolved after the restructuring. The North American and European branches of SCEI were affected by the restructuring, and remained as SCEA and SCEE. Hirai, by that time SCEI CEO and Sony Corporation EVP, led both departments. On March 2, 2010, video game developer Media Molecule , developers of the PlayStation 3 game LittleBigPlanet , was acquired by SCEI as part of Worldwide Studios. On August 23, 2010,
10201-467: Was tried out for a while was "Tokyo Teletech" until Akio Morita discovered that there was an American company already using Teletech as a brand name. The name "Sony" was chosen for the brand as a mix of two words: one was the Latin word " sonus ", which is the root of sonic and sound, and the other was " sonny ", a common slang term used in 1950s America to call a young boy. In 1950s Japan, "sonny boys"
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