John Smedley.

San Diego-based Sony Online Entertainment LLC is part movie studio, part video-game developer, formed in 1995 as an online collaboration of Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Corp. of America.

At the time, John Smedley, the current president of Sony Online Entertainment, was developing games with a Sony spinoff called Verant Interactive. During its brief time as a separate entity, Verant wiled Sony back with a game called EverQuest--a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, or MMORPG for "short."

In 2000, Sony Online Entertainment acquired Verant and, five years later, EverQuest is still the bread-and-butter game for SOE. More than 3 million people have played the game since its launch in 1999:

According to Smedley, the game has nearly 600,000 subscribers (players) who pay $15 a month to navigate landscapes, develop and maintain characters and interact with other players. Doing the math, that's nearly $9 million in revenue monthly from one game, making it the highest-selling and most profitable game for SOE.

So, when something goes wrong or changes suddenly in the EverQuest world, devoted garners bristle--loudly. " Our average gamer plays 14 to 20 hours per week, with the 14-hour garner on the casual gaming side," Smedley said.

"Hard-core garners log about 100 hours per week. Those are the loudest (when something goes wrong)," Smedley said with empathy.

"It's not often that people post on the Internet when they're happy with things, although I wish they did."

Smedley sits in the SOE boardroom wearing a Hawaiian shirt and jeans with a tattoo visible on his forearm. His public relations representative, Chris Kramer, sits next to him similarly clad, giving the vibe that SOE is run less by developers and more by dyed-in-the-wool video garners.

"God, yes (I play a lot of games) ... it's a serious habit," Smedley said. "And I understand when our subscribers complain about changes we make (to games) because I whine when developers change things, too."

Every day, Smedley walks a fine line between maximizing the gaming experience and making his "passionate" customers upset. "Changing things frustrates people but we always need to strive to make the experience better," he said.

When asked about what goals he has achieved, Kramer chimed in that the company has grown from about 50 staffers to 700 employees since Smedley has been at the helm.

"We also have another 200 (employees) in India and offices globally," Smedley added.

The three buildings SOE occupies in Miramar are thick with gaming enthusiasts and developers. Nearly all the overhead lights are turned off and stacks of energy drinks are strategically located in the offices to keep the employees alert and on task and, occasionally, off task.

"A lot of our employees play Sony games exclusively," Smedley said. "Lots of us will stay after work and play games for hours."

BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY

Essential business philosophy: Making cool games where people are able to interact with each other.

Best way to keep a competitive edge: Play a lot of games.

The latest industry trend: Console-based online gaming; downloading games from non-computer sources and playing them with other people across a network.

Goals achieved: Launching great online games.

Goal yet to be achieved: Launch a game with 1 million subscribers.

JUDGMENT CALLS

Best career decision: Getting into games; knowing what you Were made to do.

Toughest career decision: Putting out a game for financial reasons as opposed to putting it out when we think it's ready.

Missed opportunity: None. We start trends so we've been lucky with that.

Mentor: Yair Landau, chairman of Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment.

TRUE CONFESSIONS 

What I like best about running SOE: The people.

What I like least about my position: Administrative headaches like parking space hassles, air-conditioning maintenance, making sure San Diego Gas & Electric Co. keeps the power on (it goes out three to four times a year).

Pet peeve: Coming to me without proposed ideas or solutions, just problems.

Most valuable lesson learned: Hold games until they're ready, no matter what. Make sure people get a quality experience.

Person I'd most like to meet: Steve Jobs, co-founder and chief executive officer, Apple Computer Inc.

Most-respected competitor: Irvine-based game developer Blizzard.

Greatest passions: Gaming and novel writing, in that order.

What I'd be doing if I weren't doing this: General computer programming.

PREDILECTIONS

Favorite author/book: "Game of Thrones," by George R.R. Martin.

Favorite vacation spot: Cozumel, Mexico.

RESUME

Name: John Smedley.

Job title: President.

Company name: Sony Online Entertainment LLC.

Industry involvement: Video games for consoles and personal computers.

Education: High school graduate, some college. "I was better at programming games than I was at attending class."

Born: Aug. 27, 1968.

Birthplace: Cheverly, Md.

Age: 38.

Residence: Poway.

Family: Wife, Shelley; and four children, Patrick, 11; Catherine, 9; Emily, 6; and Rose, 5.