A New PlayStation Era Begins As The Mind Behind Its Biggest Hits Exits

Ted Price, the founder and CEO of PlayStation studio Insomniac Games, is retiring, marking the biggest shake-up at the legendary developer since it was purchased by PlayStation in 2019.

Price, who led the developer since its founding in 1994, announced his plan to retire to the team last week and is now sharing his decision with the public. He will officially step down at the end of March.

Price’s decision comes down to it being “simply time to step aside and let others pave the way for our team,” he wrote in a heartfelt blog published on the Sony Interactive Entertainment website.

Price’s exit will kick off a brand new chapter for the developer. He was instrumental in all of the studio’s earliest successes, including its debut game Disruptor in 1996, its breakout hit Spyro The Dragon, legacy franchises like Ratchet and Clank and the forgotten Resistance games of the PlayStation 3-era. He reassured fans that the studio will be in great hands.

“Despite a challenging 2024, Insomniac’s stayed fully focused on building games for our fans,” Price wrote. “As a result of the team’s persistence and collaboration, we’re in one of the strongest positions we’ve experienced in years, with each game in development looking beautiful and playing fantastic.”

It has been a challenging few years for the award-winning developer. While Sony’s purchase of the company six years ago seemed like an overdue win for the team considering its reputation for making PlayStation-exclusive hits, it couldn’t protect the team from facing the same struggles facing the rest of the games industry. Even after releasing unequivocal successes like Spider-Man 2, ballooning game budgets and economic headwinds still resulted in layoffs for the company last year and in 2023, and scaling down post-launch support for its games.

Still, the team has weathered the storm, with plenty of exciting projects including a Wolverine game and a new Ratchet and Clank on the horizon.

In Price’s absence, three Insomniac veterans will be stepping up to lead the legendary developer as co-studio heads. The first is Ryan Schneider, who joined the team in the early 2000s and was one of the first community directors within the PlayStation ecosystem. Second is Jen Huang who joined the team in 2017 as a CFO and Head of Finance, directly overseeing project planning, production strategy, business operations, resource planning, and co-development partnerships. Last and most senior is Chad Dezern, who joined Insomniac in 1998. He’s had many roles over the last 27 years, including Environment Artist, Art Director, Studio Director, and most recently, Head of Creative.

“For many years, Chad, Jen, and Ryan have been instrumental in making Insomniac what we are today,” Price said of his successors. “I’ve seen each lead major initiatives here which have positively changed Insomniacs’ lives. Plus, they’ve consistently demonstrated the kind of collaboration and transparency that’s part of our DNA.”

In an interview with Variety, the new studio heads said that the studio is focused on the projects it already has in production. Outside of games, they also admitted to having an interest in trying to adapt its games to film. In 2016, it would help with the production of a Ratchet and Clank movie that wasn’t received particularly well. In the wake of excellent adaptations like The Last Of Us and Fallout, however, maybe another go wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

“We love Ratchet and Clank in particular,” Schneider told the outlet.

Whatever’s next for Insomniac Games in games or film, it will be interesting to see how the company moves forward. Between an upper management shakeup, identifying the common pitfalls of AAA game development, and coming off one of the most beloved comic book games of all time, it’s a new era for one of gaming’s most prolific teams.

It’s been a transformative couple of years at PlayStation. In 2023, CEO and president of PlayStation Jim Ryan announced that he would retire from his post. Earlier this month, Shuhei Yoshida, former president of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Worldwide Studios and PlayStation’s evangelist for indie games also retired from his post.