Restructuring as Sony Interactive Entertainment (2016–present)
On January 26, 2016, Sony announced the reorganization and integration of Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and Sony Network Entertainment International (SNEI), establishing a new company called Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) on April 1, 2016, under the umbrella of Sony Corporation of America. Unlike the former SCE, SIE is headquartered in San Mateo, California — where SNEI was based at — 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 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 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, 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, 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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, 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, 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.
On November 28, 2023, SIE and Korean publisher NCSoft signed a strategic global partnership.
On February 27, 2024, SIE announced it would lay off 900 employees, approximately 8% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring operation. Additionally, President and CEO Jim Ryan announced the London Studio will close in response to the changes in the industry.
Having announced his retirement in September 2023, Jim Ryan left Sony at the end of March 2024. Sony Group president Hiroki Totoki became chairman of SIE on October 1, 2023, and interim CEO from April 1, 2024, following Ryan's departure. On May 13, 2024, Sony Interactive Entertainment unveiled a new leadership structure effective June 1, 2024, with Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino becoming CEOs of separate divisions within SIE. Hulst will be the CEO of the Studio Business Group which he will oversee PlayStation's video game development as well as adaptations into other mediums such as television and film while Nishino will be CEO of the Platform Business Group, in which he will oversee hardware, technology, accessories, PlayStation Network and relationships with other developers and publishers. Both will report to SIE chairman Hiroki Totoki.
On January 28, 2025, it was announced that Hiroki Totoki would be promoted to CEO of Sony Group Corporation and Hideaki Nishino would be promoted to president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, with Hulst remaining the CEO of Studio Business Group and will report to Nishino. In addition, Lin Tao, currently Senior Vice President of Finance, Corporate Development and Strategy, would leave SIE to become CFO of Sony Group Corporation. The management changes went into effect on April 1, 2025.
In March 2026, it was reported that SIE would be phasing out "PlayStation Network" and "PSN" from its branding by September 2026. According to Insider Gaming, an email sent to developers said the change would be "purely visual" and that the intention behind the decision is to "properly capture the breadth of our evolving digital services."
Sony announced in July 2026 that it was ending production of physical discs for the PlayStation consoles by January 2028. The company called it a "natural direction" as they found consumers preferred downloading games over physical media; analysts estimated digital sales contributed to 80% of total game purchases on the PlayStation platform. Other publishers will be able to order discs after January 2028, but only for games published before this date. Sony's decision raised concerns related to video game preservation and game ownership with the end of physical media for game distribution. Further concerns were raised due to the limited availability of the PlayStation Store for purchasing digital games, which is unavailable in 62% of countries. In its July 2026 earnings call, CFO Lin Tao said the company was moving "cautiously" forward with its plan to go fully digital, acknowledging there are users and other agencies that still prefer disc-based content.