Co-founder of and game developer Raphael Colantonio is stepping down from his role at Arkane Studios after an 18 year long stint with the company. He made this announcement through a note posted on Bethesda.net, the studio’s publisher.

Colantonio has been with the company ever since it was first founded in 1999 and has not only served as the president of the studio but has also been the creative director on a number of different titles with the most recent being Prey. A couple of other big titles the developer worked on were Call of Duty: World at War, and BioShock 2. Before founding Arkane Studios he previously worked for both Electronic Arts and Infogrames. In the note that was posted he not only announced his department from the company but also stated on what some of his next steps will be going forward.

“The last 18 years have been an amazing adventure – from starting Arkane in 1999, to making our first game, Arx Fatalis, to joining ZeniMax Media in 2010 and releasing the Dishonored series and Prey to critical acclaim, It is time for me to step out to spend some time with my son and reflect on what is important to me and my future.”

Designer Harvey Smith will go on to oversee the studio’s Austin based team while Colantonio will stick around “as long as necessary” while the management team in the Lyon arm of the studio finds a replacement for him. “I’ve lived many magical moments,”Colantonio stated reminiscing on his time at the company. “I’ve also been through the hard times. But, I can say that joining ZeniMax took things to the next level and gave Arkane the opportunity to emerge as a world class studio.”