Eidos, the troubled computer games publisher, yesterday lost its second director in a matter of weeks when chief executive Charles Cornwall announced his intention to quit.
Michael McGarvey, who will step up from chief operating officer to take Mr Cornwall's place, said his departure had been a mutual decision.
"There was no boardroom scuffle and neither was this out of the blue," Mr McGarvey said. "This is a management succession from the kind of entreprenerial attitude needed to get the business off the blocks to a more strategic and focused approach."
Eidos, which owns the popular Tomb Raider franchise featuring Lara Croft, has suffered a turbulent 12 months during which its share price has plunged from a peak of £12 last year. Yesterday the shares climbed 5p to 285p.
The company has issued successive profit warnings and a subsequent takeover approach from Infogrames of France was abandoned last month after lengthy discussions. Jeremy Lewis, chief financial officer at Eidos, left the company three weeks ago.
Eidos has not been helped by weak market conditions, with game players waiting for the next generation of consoles to hit the shops before spending cash on new titles.
Mr McGarvey yesterday warned Eidos's fortunes were unlikely to show much improvement until the next financial year.
"In the short term it is very difficult to put your finger on what the market will do and conditions will remain challenging for the balance of the financial year," he said. "Next April to March 2002 will provide the platform for growth."
Mr Cornwall, who was on a six month contract, first raised his intention to leave at the start of the year and will not receive a pay-off. But he will keep options worth around £1.8m at current share prices.
Mr Cornwall in effect engineered the creation of Eidos in its present shape through the merger of a series of small technology companies during the mid-1990s. He had been a director of the business since 1993, prior to which he was a corporate financier at Chartered West LB.
In a statement Mr Cornwall said he intended to devote more time to his other technology and mining interests in the US and South Africa.
Julian Morse, a games analyst at broker Beeson Gregory, said Eidos could be ready to turn the corner, and changed his stance from hold to buy.
"The stock has come back a long way because there has been a lack of investor confidence. But this is still one of the biggest publishers of computer games in the world," he said. "The games market will take off and the largest companies will be poised to take advantage of that."