After an amazing year and a half at SCEA and just shy of a decade in the videogame industry, it’s time for me to say goodbye.

I’ve met some truly amazing people throughout my 9-year career in gaming, including many life-long friends and many people that I consider family. It seems like only yesterday that I was just a bright-eyed kid, fresh out of college, ready to embark on a career in game writing. And in the blink of an eye, here I am.

I’m extremely excited to move on to the next stage of my life and career outside of gaming, but there’s no denying the saddening feeling that comes with saying goodbye to so many wonderful people, especially here at PlayStation. And then there are the journalists, the third-party publishers, developers and beyond. These are all people that made this one big, happy family.

To everyone in the PlayStation community — you truly made this job fun. When I look back on the community meet-ups, events, live chats, online games and even the quick comment exchanges…those are the little things that brought me joy on a day-to-day basis. Being a part of something that brings people happiness, and being able to go out and share that enthusiasm with you, that’s where this job truly shined. It’s what kept me going. I thank you for that, and I’ll miss you all. Yes, even those of you who thrived on pointing out my .01MB file size mistakes in the Store updates ;-)

I am leaving you in more than capable hands. Your main man Jeff, obviously, but also the newest addition to the PlayStation.Blog family, friend and former coworker Sid Shuman. Treat him well. Minimal hazing, please.

So let’s consider this farewell, but not goodbye. Cheesy? Yes. Heartfelt? Definitely. You know where to find me:

PSN: godofgwar
twitter.com/chrismorell

Best wishes,
Chris Morell, VP of PlayStation Community Awesomeness