A lot more info has been posted in the original thread.  (The new figure's name is Dawn, BTW.)

I don't think it's fair to say anyone was forced out.  Maybe they left on their own.  Entreprenurial types do tend to like to strike out on their own.  Chris Creek left Zygote to form DAZ.  It's not surprising he would eventually leave DAZ to form a new company.

It all sounds very exciting, especially for us Poser users.  DAZ is no longer committed to Poser users, and SM seems uninterested in creating and supported the kind of figures we want.  It's great to have people with this kind of track record fill that void.