This press release announces that Ken Kutaragi will retire from his post as CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment effective June 19, 2007, to be replaced by president and COO Kazuo Hirai (thanks Kotaku). Kutaragi, known as the father of the PlayStation, will then serve as SCEI's Honorary Chairman and as an advisor to Sony chairman Sir Howard Stringer. Here's a bit:

Mr. Kutaragi, well known as the “Father of PlayStation”, invented and launched the original PlayStation in 1994 and its successor, PlayStation 2, in 2000. Since the introduction of PlayStation and subsequently PlayStation 2, these platforms opened up a vast market of computer entertainment. The two platforms combined now have an installed base of more than 200 million units in homes around the world, with more than 2 billion units of PlayStation and PlayStation 2 software titles shipped worldwide. The third generation of the company’s home computer entertainment system, PLAYSTATION®3, launched in November 2006 in Japan and North America and in March 2007 in Europe, will continue to revolutionize the computer entertainment experience with its immense computational power connected to the network.

After completing the launch of PLAYSTATION 3 worldwide, Mr. Kutaragi has decided to pursue his dreams beyond PlayStation and to accelerate his network vision.

“I am happy to graduate from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. after introducing four platforms to the PlayStation family,” said Ken Kutaragi, Chairman and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “It has been an exciting experience to change the world of computer entertainment by marrying cutting edge technologies with creative minds from all over the world. I’m looking forward to building on this vision in my next endeavors.”