"I am so proud of all people and the work we've done together at LucasArts over the last four years," he wrote. "It's been an incredible experience. Together we've rebooted the company and set LucasArts on a path to even greater success. This is a fantastic team and they are positioned for their best year ever."

Margaret Grohne, PR director for the game development arm of Lucas Films, said LucasArts found out about Ward's decision Monday evening.

"He told the company he was leaving for personal reasons and he didn't elaborate on that," she said. "He is leaving in a couple of weeks.