Daybreak’s CEO John Smedley steps down

Daybreak Games

Daybreak’s John Smedley has decided it’s time to step down as the company CEO. Smedley has played an integral part in communicating with the SOE and Daybreak community over the years, helping drive the popularity of games such as Planetside 2 and the upcoming (presently Early Access) H1Z1.

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Smedley responded publicly to recent DDOS attacks aimed at the Daybreak servers by the group known as Lizard Squad. The DDOS attacks persisted for several days.

The former Daybreak CEO had previously been the primary target of a bomb threat incident last year, perpetrated by (at the time) Lizard Squad member Julius Kivimaki.

Kivimaki was charged in Finland for his involvement in computer fraud and security breaches, crimes unrelated to the prior Lizard Squad DDOS attacks and bomb threat incidents. Cases (and possible sentencing) relating to the latter incidents are still pending.

The two year suspended sentence given to Kivimaki for the fraud charges wasn’t enough for Smedley’s liking, who posted on Twitter that he was “coming for” him.

Smedley’s position is now being taken over by Daybreak CCO Russell Shanks who confirmed the news to Venturebeat:

“I can confirm that John Smedley will be taking some time off from the company for the near-term and transitioning to a different role to be determined. Upon finalization of his plans, further communication will be provided.”

John Smedley will remain at Daybreak but his new position has yet to be revealed by the company.


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