Just months after Second Life CTO Cory Ondrejka resigned, apparently at Philip Rosendale’s suggestion, Philip Rosendale decided it was time to step down as CEO and become chairman of the board. The change will not become effective until a replacement will be found of course.

Rosendale made the official announcement on March 14 in the company’s blog, motivating his decision: “I feel that the most important contributions I have made and will continue to make to Second Life are related to building both the product and the company through my direct contributions to vision, strategy and design. “

The company’s current CEO said he was confident they will hire “a fantastic person” to take on this job: “I bet this will be the most interesting job opening in the technology world,” adding that this would allow him to focus on the job that he does so well.

As chairman of the board, Rosedale said he will be 100 percent involved and fulltime at Linden Lab: “Second Life is my life’s work, and I am not going anywhere!” Rosedale firmly said, at the same time promising the community more of him in-world.

He motivated his decision through his desire to grow Second Life and opted for a job that combines both his passion and everyone’s needs. No changes will be made however until a proper replacement for Rosedale is found.

Second Life was launched in 2003 as an Internet-based virtual world that enabled people to interact through motion avatars. The project was developed by Linden Research Inc. and had its mainstream media peak in late 2006 and 2007.

Despite the 11.5 million accounts that have been registered over the years, There, Active Worlds and Red Light Center appear to be serious competitors. The predominantly American base of users has currently extended all over the world, with versions of Second Life available in several languages (more than half of the registered users come from outside U.S.)