Kaz Hirai has stepped down as chairman and representative director of Sony Computer Entertainment. However, he still will retain his roles as CEO and president of Sony Corp., titles that he assumed on April 1.

His "retirement," announced through SCE's appointments briefing (via Andriasang), is a bit surprising since Hirai got his start at Sony through SCE and has been called "the father of the PlayStation." But, his new duties may have impacted the amount of time he was able to devote to SCE.

No other statement was offered, but the briefing did report that Hirai would continue as a part-time member of the board, and that SCE Japan president Hiroshi Kawano had joined the board. Andrew House, who is currently SCE's president and group CEO, will take Hirai's place as representative director on the board.