GTA publisher (and parent company of RockStar) Take-Two's chief financial officer, Karl Winters, has resigned with immediate effect. The company's senior vice president of finance, Lainie Goldstein, will step in as an interim replacement while the company seeks to permanently fill the position.

This comes hot on the heels of the stock-holder revolt that saw the incumbent board replaced with a set of new faces. It also comes not long after the revelation that Take-Two is under investigation from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for back-dating stock.

SPOnG contacted Take-Two in the United States to find out Winters' reasons for leaving the company and is awaiting a response. Were we prone to idle palaver we might be tempted to point out that there's a lot of blood in the water, over at the GTA publishers HQ. This might even lead us to suggestions that Winters' resignation was not entirely voluntary. The fact that it comes with 'immediate effect' is also a key indicator.

Musing over Winters' departure Take-Two's new CEO, Ben Feder, said, "Karl oversaw finance at Take-Two during challenging times for the company. We thank Karl for his years of service to Take-Two. He was instrumental in assembling a highly competent financial team that will serve us well in the future. We appreciate Karl's hard work and his continued support during the transition."

Not wanting to miss out the new girl, Feder added, “We are impressed with Lainie and are confident that her financial acumen and knowledge of Take-Two's business will greatly assist us during this transition. I look forward to working closely with Lainie as we continue to address Take-Two's challenges aggressively and swiftly so that employees can focus on building the Company's bright future."

As Take-Two continues to dodge bullets you can glance through the company's ever-growing list of recent woes on SPOnG's dedicated page.