Tencent hires former Sony CEO Shawn Layden as advisor

Tech giant Tencent Games has hired former Sony Interactive Entertainment America CEO Shawn Layden as its strategic advisor. The company is part of the umbrella Chinese conglomerate Tencent Holdings and is currently the largest gaming company on the planet.

In his new role at Tencent, Layden will advise on the direction of the company’s gaming division. He writes on LinkedIn: “I am pleased to share that I am part of Tencent Games as a strategic advisor. In this new role I hope to advise, assist and support the team in deepening activities within the industry where I am most involved. of my career. We are currently going through an era-defining time within gaming and interactive entertainment.”

From 1996 to 2019, the American worked for various branches of Sony. He started as a producer at Sony Computer Entertainment and in the following years became CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment America and chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide.

Tencent Games is part of Tencent Holdings and invests massively in established game companies. Riot Games and Turtle Rock Studios, among others, are wholly owned by the Chinese company. Tencent also owns parts of Epic Games, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, Krafton, FromSoftware, Frontier Developments, Bohemia Interactive, Roblox Corporation and Discord.