r/gaming 10h ago

PlayStation Architect Mark Cerny 'Nearing the End' of Career, Launching Fellowship Program With Game Awards Creator Geoff Keighley

https://www.ign.com/articles/playstation-architect-mark-cerny-nearing-the-end-of-career-launching-fellowship-program-with-game-awards-creator-geoff-keighley
841 Upvotes

71 comments sorted by

260

u/InactiveMedusa 10h ago

The times they are a changing. How long before Miyamoto, starts thinking the same? Any of the other OGs?

107

u/Horikyou 10h ago

He has moved to a more advisory role for a while now. Retirement is getting very close tho.

53

u/M4rshmall0wMan 7h ago

Miyamoto is already half-retired. He mostly does PR and creative consulting nowadays

28

u/Toxicity246 6h ago

Yeah, he's basically Nintendo's Walt Disney. Sure, Mario is nintendo's, but he's the visionary who created all these characters and worlds.

22

u/SeegullJockey 5h ago

Miyamoto hasn't actually directed a game himself since the n64 era

24

u/[deleted] 10h ago edited 7h ago

[deleted]

11

u/SuddenlyDiabetes 10h ago

Real talk though some of the stuff they make him do is insane, such as not being allowed to ride a bicycle

1

u/jinglewooble 8h ago

If I was in my 70s bicycle will also not be something I want to do. The fall risk are too high.

2

u/SuddenlyDiabetes 8h ago

It's been the case since at least 2010 (that's when it was first reported), but I've heard redditors say the reason is a lot of Japanese companies don't let their employees bike to work because of the legal ramifications in case of a crash, I can also believe it's because he's very valuable to Nintendo so they don't want to let their golden goose die

21

u/Hansgaming 8h ago edited 8h ago

I don't think much will change even if Miyamoto is gone. Games are not made by a single person or their vision at least not in gigantic AAA studios and IF that happens you get games like Mindseye.

As long as studios don't start firing their staff just to make their earning calls look better I don't see the quality of their games going down because a single person is missing. Sadly studios do this all the time but Japanese studios have extremely strict labor laws which prevents such scenarios unless the studio is actually going down.

-11

u/MeCritic 8h ago

The ship is sinking…

Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened…

-14

u/_Solarriors_ 7h ago

They get replaced by AI

-17

u/ImNotSkankHunt42 8h ago

This is why the Kojima thing is bad for the community no matter how you feel about him. He has 3 games left on him, maybe 4 and that’s a stretch.

25

u/hitgo1 8h ago

One of the good ones in PlayStation

127

u/Iggy_Slayer 10h ago

He just turned 62 so yeah makes sense. No doubt ps6 and the handheld is his last hardware he'll be on most likely.

1

u/Tomero 15m ago

Don’t look like he is 62.

49

u/r31ya 10h ago

I suppose ps6 would be his last

3

u/HoloandMaiFan 3h ago

If we are lucky we will get one more generation but yeah, good chance this is his last

1

u/r31ya 3h ago

From the leak and rumor, sony and cerny have cooked for PS6.

But current ram crisis hampers the production plan.

2

u/HoloandMaiFan 3h ago

I heard that too, but let's see. Either way I have no plans on getting the ps6 right away. I'm taking my time, because fuck Sony ATM, and I still have like 12 games on my backlog on ps5 that will take me a year or two to beat.

2

u/r31ya 3h ago

To make things sadder is that rumor has it, the original plan for ps6 is to make it affordable with goal of maintaining $500-ish price point.

Even at cost of losing the unit performance against xbox helix by 30%.

That plan is gone gone now.

59

u/xRostro 10h ago

A beautiful era of Playstation is coming to an end, along with the discs. It hurts

-82

u/jcamp41 10h ago

Not really. Him and Geoff can guarantee Sony titles continue to be nominated for GOTY. It ain't over.

-14

u/No_Speed31 5h ago

They voted you down for speaking the truth

25

u/skabot3000 10h ago

Is Geoff 62 too?

22

u/boxsterguy 10h ago

Wikipedia says Geoff is 48.

33

u/NiceTrySuckaz 10h ago

Really? A guy in his sixties nearing the end of his career? Fascinating stuff

20

u/Mistwalker007 6h ago

Ten more years and he can run for president, or is that too young ?

12

u/TheRealNox 9h ago edited 8h ago

What age do you guys retire at? It's around 62-65 in EU. Edit: Why am I getting downvoted?!

13

u/GhostDieM 8h ago

Americans being salty lol wtf

15

u/piichan14 9h ago

In this economy? Retirement has become a myth.

0

u/TheRealNox 9h ago

Really? That's tough :/ It looks fine in EU for now.

2

u/reerden 1h ago

This is definitely not universal in Europe lol. Here it’s 68.

0

u/NiceTrySuckaz 9h ago edited 9h ago

Totally depends. You can technically start collecting social security when you're 62 but you get more if you wait until age 67 for the full amount. And if you're wealthy, you obviously just retire whenever you want, but then a lot of them never choose to retire because their love of work is why they're rich in the first place.

If you aren't depending on social security and did the smart/normal thing of investing your money in a private 401k for retirement but you aren't super wealthy, then you can start accessing that fund at full maturity when you are 59 1/2,and most people start thinking of retirement at that point if they want to retire at all.

1

u/Ahindre 4h ago

Though you can’t qualify for Medicare until 65, so really that’s when anyone not wealthy can even think about retirement.

3

u/NiceTrySuckaz 4h ago

I just realized this conversation was taking place in the gaming subreddit. What the fuck are we doing

0

u/val_tuesday 7h ago

Haha love of work is why they’re wealthy. Good luck loving your way to wealth at a regular wage!

1

u/NiceTrySuckaz 7h ago

You're thinking about it wrong, I think. They love working because they love making lots of money... or they love working because they don't make much money but they truly enjoy their work. The former group doesn't retire because continuing to make fistful of cash is their passion, which is why they don't retire even though they are financially able.

-1

u/val_tuesday 7h ago

If that’s the case then it’s because you’re saying it wrong. You literally wrote “… is why they’re rich in the first place.”, very clear kart before horse statement according to your clarification.

The reason it needs to be pointed out or dunked on is that it reads like propaganda. Get on your own side and stop carrying water for these ghouls!

1

u/NiceTrySuckaz 7h ago

I'm really not sure what you mean

-1

u/val_tuesday 6h ago

You’re saying “love of work” -> “wealthy”.

I’m pushing back on that because that doesn’t work unless you’re making an obscene amount of money at work. Most wealthy people inherit and invest. Work usually doesn’t factor into it whatsoever.

That’s the propaganda. The story that a normal person can simply work their way to wealth. It barely ever happens, it’s much like saying you should play the lottery to get wealthy.

Apparently you’re blind to it and just regurgitate it thoughtlessly.

1

u/FastFooer 1h ago

Anyone born after 1985 in North America needs family money to retire otherwise it’s basically work until you die or try homelessness.

24

u/GreatnessToTheMoon 10h ago

It’s interesting how he had no engineering background but became a lead hardware architect. Anything is truly possible in America

16

u/M4rshmall0wMan 7h ago

Some people are just that smart. Cerny’s position is unique because long before he worked on hardware, he spent over a decade cultivating relationships with every studio making PlayStation games. He has the most objective view of the platform’s health out of anyone in the company, even the CEO. That’s where his value really lies.

13

u/CombatMuffin 9h ago

Not all skills are backed up by a formal degree. Especially videogames, back then

33

u/Nothing-Is-Real-Here 10h ago

He entered Berkeley when he was 16 and had an interest in programming. With that in mind and being incredibly smart, i imagine it wouldn't have been that hard for him to land that job.

47

u/saucysagnus 10h ago

That… was a pretty regular thing back in the 90s/00s

17

u/piichan14 9h ago

That was the US' selling point back in the day. As long as you're smart and/or hardworking, a degree didn't matter and you'd still get hired.

14

u/xenocea 10h ago

If you have some time, check out this video of him giving a presentation how he started gaming and how he eventually got the role as lead system architect. It's an interesting watch. He also touched upon the subjects how each Playstation came to be and the reasons behind the use of the specs at the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHXrBnipHyA&t=77s

2

u/Livio88 10h ago

This is gonna blow your mind, but Micheal Faraday didn't have a degree either.

1

u/Iucidium 11m ago

I don't know about his education but being a devolper himself helped A LOT. his "time to triangle" philosophy that helped the PS4 be as Dev friendly as possible and also advising on their dev tools to help games get made as quickly and smoothly as possible.

1

u/hellraiser29 9h ago

You need to know and bump shoulders with the right people most of the time.

2

u/Bonyred 3h ago

Makes sense to abandon a sinking ship.

2

u/HotelFoxtrot87 9h ago

Where’s Knack 3??

4

u/ClacksInTheSky 9h ago

... What exactly has Geoff Keighley done to stand shoulder to shoulder with Mark Cerny?!

5

u/BlueChamp10 4h ago

“I walked Todd Howard on stage in 2010! Who are you?” - Geoff Keighly

9

u/Fluffy-Dog5264 8h ago

Angry Joe is that you?

3

u/Tanawakajima 1h ago edited 34m ago

“That little smile he has? That is years of training.”

2

u/drdillybar 9h ago

Consoles are dying. Not enough monthly fees. They want everyone to cloud now. More reason for their Ai investment. That also increases our power bills, 'cus F us.

1

u/profchaos111 5h ago

Seems obvious dude is rolling in money and I mena I recall playing his stuff when he was working for Sega 

1

u/TheThirdStrike 55m ago

Yeah, if I worked at Sony in the current gaming climate, I'd be thinking about retiring too!

2

u/OMG_NoReally 10h ago

Sony will be lesser without Cerny. I hope he has made enough money for his lifetime and continues to help smaller studios and devs with his expertise when he retires.

-11

u/jwrice 10h ago edited 7h ago

Thanks for all the hard work you've done over the years Mark! You've made Playstation feel like a home and welcomed everyone to experience what is possible when you lead with innovation and curiosity.

It's sad that Nashino is tanking the brand and essentially letting shareholders ruin all goodwill that this brand has built over the past 30+ years. I am truly ashamed of what Playstation has become this past year and I will not be buying a Playstation 6 or any future games that aren't available to play completely offline or on disc.

No Call of Duty.\ No GTA VI.\ No more digital-only games or DLC.\ No more Playstation Plus membership.\ No Playstation 6.

I'm fucking done with this company and I'm glad Mark is getting out while he can.

THANKS AGAIN MARK! YOU'RE A REAL ONE!

3

u/hitgo1 8h ago

Literally one of the last good ones in playstation

-1

u/Tanawakajima 1h ago

Unhinged.

-10

u/shitfucker90000 10h ago

after highguard geoff shouldn't be in charge of any fellowship program or anything to have to do with promoting games

8

u/Miller021 10h ago

Lmao how is it his fault the game flopped because it wasn’t good? All he did was give them a prime spot for their trailer

4

u/PsychoCobra1 10h ago

Yea it’s easy to tell he’s just a guy that loves games like I hope most of us in the subreddit do. He saw a game he personally enjoyed and wanted it to succeed, it just sucks it didn’t.

2

u/Hansgaming 8h ago

Steven Ma, senior vice president of Tencent, holds a permanent seat on The Game Awards advisory board. Just two months before it was revealed that Tencent was the secret primary investor behind Highguard, the game received the most prestigious showcase spot of the entire show.

Look, I would love to say ''this prominent figure just does this out of the pure love for video games'' but the Game Awards have always been about money. Even the old E3 shows were all just about money.

I personally don't blame the man for looking out for his business interest and maybe doing the mightiest gaming company a small favor but I also do not expect anything on the Game Awards to not be purely about cash.

The only thing I find pretty disgusting is this: ''Keighley explicitly praised Highguard as a prime example of the "power of independent, self-publishing indie studios."

-9

u/ConsequenceChoice222 10h ago edited 4h ago

Is it a relevant idea to partner with a man (Keighley) who commissioned a stillborn game (Highguard) to some devs so as to get a pretext to fire them?

Seems like this opinion is unpopular.