Head of Second Life calls it a day

The creative force behind internet phenomenon Second Life has stepped down from his roles as head of the company which created the online world.

Philip Rosedale, Linden Lab founder and chief executive, said that he will give up his current position to become chairman of the company´s board of directors.

In a statement, he said he would also contribute more to the strategy and design of Second Life in his new capacity.

"I will be 100 per cent involved and fulltime at Linden Lab. Second Life is my life´s work, and I´m not going anywhere," he wrote on the Second Life official blog.

This is the second high profile change at Linden Lab in less than three months. At the end of 2007, Cory Ondrejka, the company´s chief technology officer, left after following reports of differences over strategy with other executives.

The virtual world of Second Life, in which people live an online existence through avatars, was first released in 2003, and has since been joined by more than 20 million people around the world.
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