Ted Price, the founder and president of Marvel’s Spider-Man, Ratchet and Clank, and Resistance developer Insomniac Games, has announced his retirement from PlayStation after 30 years.
Price made the announcement on Sony’s website, while a follow-up PlayStation Blog post delved into his replacements. Ryan Schneider, Jen Huang, and Chad Dezern will take over as co-studio heads of Insomniac.
The studio, which is currently working on Marvel’s Wolverine, is currently “in one of the strongest positions” it’s been in for years, Price said. “Therefore, last week, I felt comfortable announcing to the Insomniac team that after having been incredibly fortunate to enjoy such a fulfilling career in games, I’ll be retiring from the industry at the end of March.”
Price said he made the decision last year because he felt “it was simply time to step aside and let others pave the way” after more than 30 years leading Insomniac.
“During the past year, I had the opportunity to work with the senior leadership team at Insomniac to create a succession plan that I know will provide the continuity, stability and strong leadership necessary to deliver more of what our fans cherish over the next several decades.”
Schneider began at Insomniac during the PlayStation 2 era and later became the studio’s first community director. He then joined the senior leadership team and served as head of franchise strategy and studio relations, and then head of brand and leadership strategy, before moving to co-studio head.
Huang joined Insomniac as chief financial officer and head of finance eight years ago and has so far shipped 12 games with Insomniac. Finally, Dezern has been part of Insomniac since 1998 and has worked as an environment artist, art director, Durham studio director, and most recently as head of creative.
“We’re going to keep making the games you love, while taking care of the people who make them,” the three said in a joint statement. “This aligns with our studio vision of making a positive and lasting impact on people’s lives.
“Ted has also laid the foundation for Insomniac as one of the industry’s all-time most successful studio leaders. Now, it’s up to us to help Insomniac thrive long into the future. Thanks to Ted’s guidance and leadership, we are ready.”
Price alluded to this too. “There is no way that I would ever consider handing the reins to a team I didn’t trust to take care of Insomniacs and lead us to even greater heights,” he said. “Chad, Jen and Ryan are that team.”
He concluded: “I want to thank every Insomniac for having a positive and lasting impact on my life. Working side by side with Insomniacs for so many years has been a gift that I’ll cherish for the rest of my days.
“I also want to thank our fans who, for three decades, have shared their enthusiasm, their encouragement and their support — inspiring us to take every game farther than the last. We do what we do for you. And I can assure you that we won’t be slowing down.”
Insomniac certainly appears to be plenty busy, though so far has only announced Wolverine. The studio was the victim of a data breach in 2023, however, which revealed a long list of upcoming projects.
In our 8/10 review of its latest release, IGN said: “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 delivers Insomniac’s best tale yet, and despite its open world falling short, is a reliably fun superhero power trip.”
Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
