Brian Fleming, the longtime head of PlayStation‘s Sucker Punch Productions, the makers of “Ghost of Tsushima” and its 2025 Game Award-nominee followup, “Ghost of Yotei,” is stepping down from his role and passing the studio chief title on to a pair of in-house successors: Jason Connell and Adrian Bentley.
On Tuesday, Fleming’s exit was announced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which has owned Sucker Punch Productions since 2000, in a blog post that noted: “Over the past year, Brian has worked closely with PlayStation Studios to ensure that Sucker Punch was in the best hands moving forward with a strong foundation for the studio’s continued success.”
Connell, who was most recently co-creative director on the “Ghost” franchise, and Bentley, Sucker Punch’s technical director, will take over the studio known for franchises including “Sly Cooper,” “inFAMOUS” and “Ghost” beginning Jan. 1.
Additionally, PlayStation has confirmed Nate Fox will continue as co-creative director for the video game developer.
Per PlayStation’s announcement, “Jason and Adrian have been instrumental in shaping the creative and technical direction of Sucker Punch in recent years. Jason, who served as Co-Creative Director on the Ghost franchise, has helped define the studio’s visual identity and storytelling style, bringing cinematic depth and emotional resonance to PlayStation players around the world. Adrian, as Technical Director, has led the studio’s engineering and production efforts, driving innovation across development tools and game systems that make Sucker Punch’s worlds so immersive. Together, they represent the perfect blend of creative vision and technical excellence that has always set the studio apart.”
While marking Fleming’s exit, SIE said: “Brian’s vision and leadership have shaped the studio’s culture of creativity and collaboration and established a foundation that Jason, Adrian, and the entire team will build on as they look to the future.”