PlayStation's brand success story – The Jim Ryan years

Jim Ryan retired as PlayStation's CEO in March this year, after leading the company since 2019. During his time as CEO, PlayStation's brand improved among US adults according to YouGov GameIndex . For instance, Impression scores, which show if people have a positive or negative view of a brand, went up from 29.7 to 33 (+3.3). 

Quality scores, which measure if people think a brand represents good or bad quality, increased from 29.2 to 33.5 (+4.3). The Reputation score, indicating if people would be proud or embarrassed to work for the company, climbed from 23.9 to 28.2 (+4.3). This comes in despite Sony firing 900 PlayStation employees earlier this year and closing its London Studio in the UK that developed PlayStation VR games.

Furthermore, the brand’s Recommendation score, which shows if people would suggest the brand to a friend, rose from 22.3 to 27.2 (+4.9). Finally, Consideration scores, which tells if people would think of the brand when buying an electronic product, grew from 13% to 17.3% (+4.3%).

PlayStation did particularly well among younger Americans under 50. For those aged 18-34, the Index score, which averages six key metrics (Impression, Quality, Value, Reputation, Recommendation, Satisfaction), increased from 30.3 to 36.8 (+6.5). For those aged 35-49, it went up from 29 to 38.4 (+9.4). Additionally, the Consideration score for the 18-34 age group grew from 19.3% to 29.2% (+9.9), and from 20% to 28% for those aged 35-49.

These improvements highlight the positive changes under Jim Ryan's leadership, showing how PlayStation's brand strengthened over the past five years.

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Methodology: YouGov GameIndex collects data on many of video game developers and franchises every day. PlayStation’s scores are based on an average daily sample size of 500 US adults between April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2024. The figures are based on an 8-week moving average.