Gaming Around the World: Meet Sony Interactive’s Summer 2024 Interns!

Sony Interactive Entertainment summer interns embody our core values as passionate trailblazers, pushing the boundaries of play within the digital and interactive media space. We’re thrilled to showcase their incredible contributions so far in our global intern blog series.

In this first installment, we’re excited to introduce you to four brilliant interns who are making waves across the globe. Meet Rachel Ma and Celeste Luo from our Waterloo, Canada office, and Fuka Ikeda and Max Yohei Phillips from our Tokyo, Japan office. Read on to learn about how they bring their unique perspectives and creativity to the forefront of the gaming industry!

What motivated you to apply for an internship at SIE?

Rachel: I was motivated to apply for an internship at Sony Interactive Entertainment because I really appreciate the company’s dedication in developing world-leading gaming consoles and delivering the best user experiences. I am excited about the prospect of learning and growing within a mature software team at Sony Interactive. The opportunity to work with professionals who have extensive experience in the game industry is invaluable to me.

Celeste: Aside from being a global brand and a cool company, I heard from past interns that their internships at Sony Interactive were filled with fun memories. Although I’m functioning more as a supporting role for developers, I was intrigued by the idea of automating processes and working with a lot of different technologies. It looked like a great learning opportunity in a supportive environment.

Fuka: I’ve always been fascinated by the power of entertainment and the possibility of these experiences, so Sony Interactive seemed like a perfect environment to connect my technological skills to my future visions! I’ve also heard from previous interns that this program was amazing in building skills and blooming as leaders, so an atmosphere that puts emphasis on the development of both hard and soft skills spoke to me.

Max: Knowing the large impact that Sony Interactive has on people, many of whom I know personally, motivated me to apply. I was looking for a company where the code that I wrote would have a large impact on people, help bring people together and ultimately bring smiles to their faces. I had also heard of the wonderful experiences of an alumnus from my high school who did this program, who encouraged me to apply.

Walk us through a day in the life as an intern on your team. 

Rachel: My workday usually begins with a quick sync with my mentor. During this call, we discuss the tasks for the day, ensuring I am clear on all requirements and objectives. During our team’s regular daily meeting, we go through the items on the team’s calendar and share individual updates. I usually spend the afternoon focused on my work. This time is dedicated to working on my projects, whether it’s coding, researching, or preparing reports. 

Celeste: The office is located in Waterloo’s Uptown, so every morning I take the ION light rail and walk a few minutes through the uptown to get to the office. I fetch a mug of hot water (tea, coffee, and other drinks are also available), chat with fellow coworkers, and then get to work. Lunch is catered and we gather at the kitchen to eat together. It’s a fun time to chat with fellow interns and full-time team members. Some of my afternoons consist of meetings or standups. Intern and office events also happen occasionally, such as board game nights. After signing off for the day, I return home via the ION, sometimes with fellow interns. A productive and engaging day!

Fuka: My day starts with the busy Tokyo commute; I can never get over how many people can crowd onto one train! But upon arriving, I’m excited to see my fellow team members. We all work on our individual tasks in the morning but we will always try to get lunch together in the company cafeteria. Working in an agile scrum environment, my team members and I present our work to each other during our daily standups in the afternoon. Sometimes I have more scrum events, or a one-on-one with my mentor. We even have exciting social events (like a costume party!) or Anchor Days, where the office provides snacks and beverages to encourage teams to mingle and collaborate in-person!

Max: Once I arrive the office, I begin my work keeping track of the progress I’ve made to present at the daily scrum meeting later in the day. On Wednesdays, there are free snacks on the floor below us at 11 AM, so the whole intern cohort takes the opportunity to go down for some snacks as a group. We then get back to some work, before grabbing lunch together.  I have a one-on-one sync with my mentor before leaving work for the day. I do a bit more work before our daily standup with the cohort. Here, we catch each other up on the progress we’ve made as well as any issues we’ve encountered. 

How would you describe your team and team culture?

Rachel: Our team works in a fast-paced development environment where we have very close collaboration. All team members are very open to discussing any challenges we encounter and we come together to brainstorm suggestions or solutions. As an intern, I feel particularly supported because everyone [on the team] is approachable and willing to help whenever I run into trouble with a particular task.

Celeste: I work on one of the DevOps teams at Sony Interactive that focuses on the systems and processes that ship code from the developers’ repositories to the users’ consoles. We’re a devoted but chill bunch – juggling has been a recent activity.

Fuka: Our team is very diverse, coming from a whole range of backgrounds and experiences. This allows for many different perspectives, which is useful for brainstorming different ideas and learning new ways of thinking. My team and I try to build connections outside of work to make our team dynamics even better.

Max: Our team is very fun and motivating. We get into passionate discussions (sometimes about work, sometimes not). The team has created a very comfortable environment for me to work and I’m grateful for the people I have around me. There are a wide variety of social events hosted for us where we can bond as an intern cohort. Furthermore, as most of us live in corporate housing, a common practice in Japan, we spend well over 10 hours a day with each other, so we’ve gotten to know each other very well. This makes working together even more fun!

What project(s) are you working on? 

Rachel: I am part of the team dedicated to enhancing the transaction experience for PlayStation 5 users. Specifically, we focus on implementing and maintaining a seamless checkout flow, ensuring that users can complete transactions smoothly across different platforms, including on the web browser, and the PlayStation app.

Celeste: The nature of DevOps work is that it’s not one “app”; it’s a collection of tools, processes, and technologies. Instead of being strictly assigned to a project for the term, I’m tasked with sprint work like the rest of the team. My tasks have ranged from updating pipelines and their libraries to designing and developing client APIs and workflows to automate otherwise-tedious tasks. Personally, I really enjoy this arrangement, because I get to interact with several different infrastructure and technologies that make up the DevOps fabric. Each sprint looks very different!

Fuka: I am working as part of NPX (Network Platform Experience), the team that works on the PlayStation console platform experience. Although I can’t talk about my specific project, I’m working hard to elevate the user experience of PlayStation users!

Max: I am part of the NPX (Network Platform Experience) Platform Engineering department, so I’m working on the software that runs on PlayStation 5. While project details are confidential, I am working on a feature to make PlayStation Network a more engaging and flexible platform.

What advice do you have for someone considering interning at Sony Interactive Entertainment in the future?

Rachel: At Sony Interactive, you’ll be surrounded by a lot of talented and passionate people. My biggest advice is to take advantage of that! Don’t be afraid to ask questions because it is the quickest way to learn and grow in the team. In the same vein, don’t shy away from challenging projects. Stepping outside your comfort zone is where the real learning happens.

Celeste: One of the more prominent technologies in my role is Jenkins pipelines, but I actually didn’t know anything about it at all going into the role and learned it on the job – so don’t be discouraged! On my resume and during the interview, I demonstrated my aptitude for DevOps-related work, as well as my intrigue for automation and different technologies.

Fuka: My advice to anyone applying to the NPX program is to express your true genuine self! Interviews, make an effort to get to present yourself holistically as a person and not just from your coding test results or resume. Try to be your true, authentic, amazing self!

Max:  While some JavaScript knowledge may be useful, my team was willing to teach me what I needed to succeed. But at the end of the day, just apply!