■ First In-Person Corporate Strategy Meeting in Three Years

Today we held the "Sony Corporate Strategy Meeting FY2022" at the 2F Conventional Hall at Sony headquarters in Tokyo.

The press conference, which was held online and also in person for the first time in three years, was attended by around 80 media representatives, investors and analysts. After my approximately 30-minute speech, CFO Totoki-san and our CTO Kitano-san joined me for the Q&A session.

Please view the archived video and presentation materials from today's event, as well as the new video we released today communicating Sony's Purpose.

■ The Metaverse as a Growth Opportunity: My Message at the Corporate Strategy Meeting

At this year's Corporate Strategy Meeting I spoke about two entertainment spaces that present great opportunities for growth at Sony: the Metaverse and Mobility. In this blog, I would like to reiterate my thoughts on the metaverse that Sony should aspire to create, which I have discussed internally with you all until now as "creating a social entertainment space motivated by entertainment." I hope you will share your feedback and ideas in response to this vision.

Ever since its founding, Sony has been devoted to creating and delivering Kando (emotion) to people. In that time, the method for delivering Kando has evolved, from broadcasts to packaged media and then networks. And the entertainment experience itself, delivered through networks, is expanding as well, from downloads to streaming, and now social, interactive experiences whereby people can share time and space.

I believe that the essence of entertainment is to be live, whereby time and space are shared, and experiences over the network are evolving into more live ones through technology. Game technology has enabled games, movies, music and anime to intersect in the network space. In this way, I see the metaverse as both a social space and a live network space, where all genres intersect and expand.

■ Sony's Metaverse - My thoughts and my question to all of you

So, what form would Sony's metaverse take? I would like to explore the answer to this question with all of you. Based on our corporate direction of "getting closer to people," we have also strived to get closer to people's motivations through our direct-to-consumer (DTC) services. I believe that it in the metaverse, we must also stay close to people's interests, or in other words foster and engage "Communities of Interest." Rather than try to create "Sony's Metaverse" as a singular world or concept, I believe our goal should be to cultivate a "Community of Interest based Metaverse" that creates Kando spaces based on people's individual interests. I would very much like to hear your thoughts on this approach.

At today's press conference, I also introduced some of our new live entertainment initiatives
in each business area.
Game: Live services from Bungie, which we agreed to acquire this year
Sports: Collaboration with Manchester City Football Club to recreate the stadium in the virtual space
Music: Live performances by Sony Music artists in the virtual space

Together with the diversity of Sony's businesses, our game technology centered on real-time CG rendering, which connects people to people, are strengths that we can leverage as we accelerate our efforts in relation to the metaverse. At the same time, I believe the role of hardware, that connects the "real spaces," where people exist and "virtual spaces," will also become increasingly important. Specifically, in the key areas of VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality) we also have an advantage in the form of PlayStation®VR. I think it is also necessary to consider how we can utilize such hardware technology to support the creation of experiences in the Kando space of Sony's metaverse, and the significance of physical devices that create a connection between the real and virtual spaces.

■ Sony's Purpose - Filling the World with Emotion

I believe that first, we must do what we can ourselves to try to create new value in the context of the metaverse. Following that, I would like to get closer to creators and artists, and in the areas of social and live services, which are vital elements of the metaverse, work closely with our partners who have insight and expertise in these areas and move forward with our challenge of "filling the world with emotion."

• What form should Sony's metaverse take?
• What are the technologies and expertise that Sony can leverage in taking on this challenge?
• What is a fitting name for Sony's metaverse?

Please share your thoughts and ideas by taking part in the survey below.