Businessweek reports that role as next chief executive of Sony’s game division will be a difficult journey. Mr. Hirai, marketing genius for Sony, will be expected to help Sony rebound from financial crisis especially in gaming division which the loss amounted to around $2 billion dollars due to the cost and delay associated with the launch of Playstation 3.

But when he assumes the gaming unit’s top post, Hirai will have one of the hardest jobs at Sony. Since the launch of the PlayStation 3 console in November, Sony’s ultra-high-tech machine has trailed the competition from Microsoft (MSFT) and Nintendo (NTDOY). Lately the gaming unit’s cost overruns and ongoing technology investments have hurt Sony’s bottom line. They have also caused a headache for Chairman Howard Stringer, who has spent the past two years pushing through reforms and selling off assets aimed at turning around the company’s key electronics division. The game division’s bigger-than-expected losses appear to be the impetus behind Stringer’s reshuffling of the unit’s management last November.

JPMorgan (JPM) analyst Yoshiharu Izumi reckons Sony’s gaming business lost $2 billion last fiscal year (which ended in March), with operating profits expected to come in at just $635 million. Results are expected to improve this year, but to realize substantial improvement, Hirai will have to figure out how to make better use of the division’s assets?and do so without the deep technological knowledge that was the key to Kutaragi’s success.

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Filed under: Kaz Hirai, Main