It looks like Jim Ryan isn’t the only PlayStation leadership departure, but this time on the less public side as PlayStation Head of Production, Connie Booth has been rumoured to have left the PlayStation brand after 26 years with the brand, according to God of War creator turned content creator, David Jaffe in a YouTube video.
The actual reveal of the rumour came after Jaffe hinted on Twitter that “sad, frustrating, potentially super disrespectful news” was coming. As always, take any rumours with a grain of salt. Sony hasn’t officially declared Booth’s departure from the PlayStation brand, nor has Booth’s owner updated her employment status on her LinkedIn.
Although there may be some belief in Jaffe’s claims, it is backed up by four sources, with two each from inside and outside of Sony. Jaffe adds that he doesn’t fully know if the departure was Booth’s decision or if she was forced out.
“Here’s what I can tell you. She is no longer at Sony. I don’t have a lot of details. I don’t know if she was fired or laid off – when I heard the story, everyone was telling me she was fired, and then I heard that her team had also walked out of the building. I don’t know if that’s just someone being dramatic or if that actually happened,” Jaffe says in his video.
As for Booth’s head of production role at the PlayStation, Jaffe claims that former Guerrilla developer producer Angie Smets has already filled the position. I do not have anything against Smets, but it would be a weird call as Smets was promoted to head of development strategy at PlayStation Studios in April as part of the studio leadership restructuring. Like Boothe, this new position hasn’t been reflected in Smets’ LinkedIn, so if true, Sony’s being weirdly hush-hush about this change in production head leadership.
For longtime PlayStation gamers, you might have glanced at Boote’s name in the credits of many PlayStation exclusives. Booth had a hand in the PlayStation series you love, including Spyro the Dragon, Syphon Filter, Ratchet & Clank, SOCOM, Uncharted, Jak and Daxter, inFamous, Resistance, Sly Cooper, The Last of Us, Spider-Man, Death Stranding and Ghost of Tsushima.
Booth was promoted to head of production months after the pandemic kicked off in 2020. That same year, Booth was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Science’s Hall of Fame thanks to her contributions to the industry at PlayStation, which was “integral in helping produce many beloved SIE titles over the past 25 years.”
