Nicolas Doucet named PlayStation Japan studio head
Director of Astro Bot: Rescue Mission will now oversee the studio behind that game and the Knack series
Astro Bot: Rescue Mission was one of Sony's best-reviewed games in 2018, and now the director of the PlayStation VR showpiece is heading up the studio that created it.
According to a Siliconera translation of a Sony Interactive Entertainment Japanese HR announcement, Nicolas Doucet has been named studio director for SIE's Japan Studio.
Astro Bot: Rescue Mission is the studio's most recent solo release; its output this generation has also included The Playroom, The Playroom VR, Knack, and Knack 2. Beyond that, the Japan Studio has contributed to a host of Sony exclusives, including the PS4 Shadow of the Colossus remake, Gravity Rush 2, and The Last Guardian.
Doucet has been with Sony for 16 years, first signing on in the mid-2000s to work on the EyeToy series. He went on to direct EyePet, The Playroom, and The Playroom VR.
Sony made no note of what happened to Doucet's predecessor in the Japan Studio director role, Allan Becker.
Doucet's appointment comes a few months after some other notable shifts within Sony Interactive Entertainment. In October, Sony's Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden stepped down. The next month, Guerrilla Games managing director Hermen Hulst was appointed the new head of Worldwide Studios, while previous Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida stepped down to take a more hands-on role fostering the company's business with independent developers.