Sony has reorganized their online game division. SOE will now report directly to Kazuo Hirai, the President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI). Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) CEO John Smedley will now serve as President and report to Hirai.

The move, according to Hirai, to closely integrate the online developers with the Playstation 3 "entertainment experience".

SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT INC. AND SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT LEVERAGE EXPERTISE IN THE COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

SAN DIEGO, CA & TOKYO, JAPAN (March 13, 2008) - In a strategic move to closely align itself with the strong growth of the worldwide online gaming market, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) announced today that Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) will report to Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, SCEI, effective April 1, 2008. The new structure is designed to mutually benefit both companies by further accelerating the PlayStation business through SOE's strong online gaming expertise.

"I am excited to be able to work with SOE even more closely, as online games and services become a more integral part of the PS3 entertainment experience," Hirai said. "This new structure will allow us to take full advantage of the extensive breadth of expertise of the two companies and increase our range of exciting entertainment offerings to our consumers."

San Diego-based SOE is currently part of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Under the new structure, SOE will continue to develop its games for the PC and the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3®) computer entertainment system, and SOE President John Smedley will report to Hirai.

"We are thrilled to become a part of the incredible team that has made PLAYSTATION 3 the premier platform for next generation online gaming," said Smedley. "This move is going to broaden our capabilities and expand the development of our products into new and exciting directions."