John Smedley Steps Down As Daybreak CEO, Will Take Hiatus Before Returning In New Role

I'm not normally in the habit of writing news articles an hour before midnight, but this one seems significant enough to break that trend. VentureBeat reports that Daybreak Game Company CEO John Smedley will be stepping down from his post and taking a leave of absence from the company before returning in a new position.

The outspoken Smedley, whose recent feud with hacker group Lizard Squad has turned ugly on several occasions, deleted his social media accounts last week, and now the move might be seen as a precursor to Smedley's leaving the company. Chief Operating Officer Russell Shanks will be taking over as CEO.

We'll update this story with more information as we receive it. If nothing else, we expect a formal press release from Daybreak's PR team early tomorrow morning.