Seattle-based digital media powerhouse RealNetworks Inc. on Friday announced the resignation of chief financial officer Brian Turner because of undisclosed health issues.

The company, which is battling hard to stave off the challenge from Microsoft's Windows Media 9 Series, said Turner will remain as CFO until June in order to ensure a smooth transition.

RealNetworks general manager of finance Michael Eggers will assume the CFO slot until a replacement is found, the company said.

Turner's departure comes at a crucial time for RealNetworks, which has moved to embrace the open-source community with the tiered rollout of the Helix digital media delivery platform.

At LinuxWorld in January, the company concluded the delivery of the Helix code with the release of the Helix DNA Server. Before that, the source code for the company's media player and media producer were released along with the code for the Helix DNA Client.

Despite those moves, RealNetworks has found it tough to compete with Microsoft, the deep-pocketed cross-town rival which is busy finding enterprise partners for its recently launched WM9 Series.

Eggers joined RealNetworks in 1997 and was in charge of financial reporting, accounting, budgeting, planning and tax functions. A graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle, he also did a stint at KPMG.