Bullet hell shoot-em-up specialist Cave has announced the departure of CEO Ito Masahito, with current board chairman Kenichi Takano taking on his role of president.

The company claims Masahito's resignation comes as a result of 'personal reasons', though his departure comes a matter of months after former VP and COO Mikio Watanabe also left the firm.

Social switch

Cave recently unveiled a refocusing of its operations following a financial slowdown at the start of 2012, with forthcoming PS Vita projects canned in order to prioritise social games.

Indeed, the firm's releases on iOS had appeared to open up a new market for the company, which has struggled to gain a foothold on current home consoles, both in terms of physical releases and via digital platforms such as XBLA.

No details have been given as to who will take on the role of CEO in the long term.