Sorensen Leaves LucasArts

A source close to LucasArts has informed GameSpot News that Jack Sorensen, LucasArts Entertainment's president, will be leaving the company. Apparently, Sorensen made the announcement late on Thursday afternoon.

Interestingly, this is the third surprise departure from the company in recent time, as Grim Fandango designer, Tim Schafer, announced late last week that he would also be departing along with SCUMM adventure game engine programmer, Aric Wilmunder. Currently, Sorensen has given no indication about what he'll do next, but considering the timeliness of the departure, one possibility could be that he is leaving for another venture with Schafer.

In Sorensen's place, George Lucas has appointed Simon Jeffery as president of LucasArts along with Mary Bihr as VP of worldwide sales (a newly created position). Jeffery previously served LucasArts as director of product development and international business activities. Before coming to LucasArts, he had previously worked as VP of marketing at Virgin Interactive and several marketing roles at Electronic Arts. Bihr has had more than 13 years of software marketing experience.

"These appointments reflect a focusing of LucasArts' overall business functions," says George Lucas. "Former president Jack Sorensen shaped the company's strategic direction and I credit him with building LucasArts into one of the world's leading developers and publishers of interactive entertainment software. Jack has set the stage for Simon and Mary to assume their new responsibilities and is now departing LucasArts to pursue other interests."