Tokyo (Japan) Ken Kutaragi, "The father of the PlayStation", will step down as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sony’s games division on June 19 of this year to become honorary chairman, according to the company.

The move follows a spat of recent rumors, some publicly voiced dissatisfaction with Kutaragi from Sony’s group CEO Sir Howard Stringer ; and the poor sales performance of the PlayStation 3 since its launch. Its current President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Kazuo Hirai will replace the 56-year old as CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Joining Sony straight out of university, Kutaragi oversaw the development and launch of the original PlayStation in 1994 and it’s highly successful sequel the PlayStation 2 ; as well as the struggling PlayStation 3.