Thatgamecompany president Kellee Santiago has left the studio she helped co-found six years ago. She says the move, which follows the recent release of the company's third game, Journey, was amicable.

"After doing these three games, I think it was a really great opportunity for all of us to look at what we've learned and what I've taken from that experience, and go forth and take it into new arenas," Santiago told Gamasutra. 

"On top of that, founding a company whose explicit goal was to do new types of game development really allowed me to be able to try out new processes for game development, to try out new ideas," she continued. "So much of my work at Thatgamecompany was really supporting Jenova's visions for the types of games he wanted to make, and I felt like I have done everything I needed to do there, and that he's in a great place now to go on and continue with some of the other people at Thatgamecompany, to take that to a whole new height."

Thatgamecompany has carved out a reputation for exploring the more artistic aspects of game design through its award-winning games FlOw, Flower, and Journey.

Co-founder Jenova Chen said in a statement that he wishes her a good journey, and that he hopes that their paths cross again. For her part, Santiago hasn't said what her next move is, though she says she wants to continue helping expand the video-game medium.