LucasArts president resigns

Darrell Rodriguez's stint as president of LucasArts has proven to be short lived. LucasArts confirmed for GameSpot today that Rodriguez has resigned his post at the publisher, having joined the company in April 2008. The publisher declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding Rodriguez's departure. His replacement has yet to be officially named.

Contrary to initial online reports, LucasArts noted that Rodriguez was not followed out the door by other members of the publisher's executive team. The representative also noted that "development, production, and upcoming releases will not be impacted" by his departure.

During his time at LucasArts, the publisher launched its best-selling Star Wars: The Force Unleashed action adventure, the second installment of which is due later this year. Other releases during his tenure included Day 1 Studios' Fracture, a reboot to the Monkey Island adventure series, and Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings. LucasArts, Electronic Arts, and BioWare also announced their collaboration on the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic while Rodriguez served as president.

Prior to his role at LucasArts, Rodriguez served as chief operating officer at Electronic Arts' Los Angeles studio. There, he helped oversee development of such games as SSX on Tour, Medal of Honor: Airborne, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, and The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II. A Bay Area native, he holds an MBA from the University of California-Berkeley.

Rodriguez replaced Jim Ward, who served as president of LucasArts' publishing label from 2004-2008. After holding a year-long position at venture capital firm Alsop Louie, Ward entered the political sphere and is currently vying for a seat in the US House of Representatives for Arizona's 5th Congressional District.