DayZ lead developer Dean Hall is set to leave Bohemia Interactive and establish his own development studio in his native New Zealand.
Speaking to Eurogamer, Hall explained his decision commenting:
"I am a grenade. I have a specific use. I'm really good at risk-taking and making other people take risks, I've always been good at that in my life. Like you say, maybe I've got the gift of the gab, so I can talk, I can explain something, I can talk people up to the ledge and get them to jump off it.
"That's what I did with DayZ; I've done it twice now [once with the mod, again with the standalone] – two new code teams have separately done it.
"But eventually, that's the bad person to have. Eventually, you don't want the guy telling you to go over the top and get through. So at some point I'll be a disaster for the project, at least in a leadership role."
He also says that he never planned to work at Bohemia which is based in the Czech Republic and added that while his mind is "definitely" set on leaving he won't go during a crucial point in DayZ's development. "I would extend my involvement here as long as Bohemia wanted – needed – me," he stressed and said that "I'll always be involved [with DayZ]."
Hall has previously said that once finished with DayZ he wants to make "the 'ultimate' virtual world survival game."
DayZ standalone has sold more than one million copies since its launch in December.