The co-creator of Microsoft's X-box video game console has resigned.
The resignation of Mr Seamus Blackley comes less than a week after the software giant conceded the unit was struggling internationally and would miss sales targets.
Mr Blackley, a physicist by training who also worked in Hollywood before joining Microsoft, said he plans to start a game development company. "It's been extremely frustrating for me to not be making games," Mr Blackley, a game developer by trade, said.
News of Blackley's departure came just days after Microsoft said it would miss its fiscal year-end sales target for the X-box by as much as 40 per cent. It blamed the shortfall on weak international sales, which led to price cuts in Europe and Australia last week.
"It just happened to coincide with the other stuff . . . it has nothing to with X-box," Blackley said. "Today I just really want everybody to know X-box is okay".
The X-box has also struggled in Japan, selling just over 190,000 units in its first six weeks there, according to Japanese game magazine publisher Enterbrain. By comparison, the console sold nearly 1.5 million units in its first six weeks in the US last year.
Microsoft has also faced criticism for loading the X-box with cutting-edge features - such as high-speed Internet connectivity and a large hard drive - that excited the industry but were ahead of the marketplace.