So the rumours were true: Corporate Executive Officer and Executive Deputy President of Sony Corporation and president of the Consumer Products and Services Group (i.e. head of Sony Computer Entertainment) has today been named president and CEO of Sony Corporation.

Current president and CEO Sir Howard Stringer will remain in his roles until April 1st, at which time Hirai will officially take on his new duties.

Hirai said of his promotion:

“I am grateful to Sir Howard and to the Board for their confidence in me, and I look forward to working with everyone at Sony more closely than ever before to build a strong future for our customers, shareholders, partners and employees.

“The foundations are now firmly in place for the new management team and me to fully leverage Sony’s diverse electronics product portfolio, in conjunction with our rich entertainment assets and growing array of networked services, to engage with our customers around the world in new and exciting ways.”

Stringer also offered comments thus:

“Kaz is a globally focused executive for whom technology and the cloud are familiar territory, content is highly valued, and digital transformation is second nature.

“I believe his tough-mindedness and leadership skills will be of great benefit to the company and its customers in the months and years ahead. I look forward to helping Kaz in every way I can so that succession leads inevitably to success.”

Hirai has in recent years guided Sony Computer Entertainment to success and profitability, injecting more excitement and fight into this division within Sony Corp. with stellar results.

How will the future of SCE be affected by Hirai’s promotion? All eyes will be on previous Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president Andrew House, who will take on the role of SCE president proper, soon.

At gamescom 2010, El33tonline’s Editor-in-Chief got a picture with Kaz Hirai during Sony’s press event - perhaps Lisa will share the picture on Facebook and Twitter…