As I wrote in today's Daily Variety, Sony Online Entertainment's departure from Sony Pictures over to Sony Computer Entertainment is not really about the obvious logic of the move. It has to do with corporate shifts at SPE -- particularly all the changes in the Sony PIctures Digital division, which oversaw SOE. SPD's head, Yair Landau, a longtime champion of SOE, is leaving and Sony is trying to sell SPD's biggest asset - the Imageworks visual effects house. (And yes, the combination of SPE, SOE, SPD, and constant repetition of "Sony" makes that the most confusing paragraph I have ever written in my life.)

Nonetheless, it seems like a very good thing for SOE, the MMO expert most famous for "Everquest" that also operates "Star Wars Galaxies" and has made / is making dozens of other titles, most of which are meant to be played with other people online.

Most notable is the fact that SOE has engaged in virtually no collaboration with the rest of Sony Pictures for its entire existence. In recent years, however, it has worked increasingly closely with SCE, from building the infrastructure for the Playstation Network to publishing PS3 games like "Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom" (OK, they're not always good) and PSP titles like "Field Commander." It's big upcoming MMO "The Agency" is being developed simultaneously for PC and PS3.

So aligning it with the part of Sony that actually, you know, makes videogames, is a pretty "duh" move. I'm sure that reporting to Kaz Hirai will be a welcome move for SOE's head John Smedley (aka "Smed"). Especially now that Landau, the only senior executive at Sony Pictures who knows much about videogames, is gone. SOE's experience staying at SPE after his departure would probably have been the corporate equivalent of being a red-headed, disabled, gay stepchild.