In a surprising development, Electronic Arts stalwart and 11-year veteran Neil Young has left his position in the company for an unspecified "new project." An email from EA Games head Frank Gibeau has confirmed this and announced EALA's Louis Castle as the immediate replacement for Young.

Prior to his departure, Young headed EA Blueprint which handles the publisher's smaller-budget projects. In his stay with the company, Young has also headed the Maxis studio and was involved in big efforts like The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Sims 2, and Medal of Honor: Airborne.

Details were very vague as to why and how he left. The only thing known for certain at this point is that Gibeau wishes him all the best in behalf of EA.

Castle will take over EA Blueprint after his stint with the Los Angeles wing. Castle is the founder of Westwood Studios, which carved its name as one of the patriarchs of the RTS genre.