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Three more executives leave Zynga

Zynga CEO Don Mattrick confirms that chief operating officer, chief technology officer, and chief people officer have left the company.

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Three major Zynga executives have left the social gaming giant, CEO Don Mattrick has confirmed.

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The Farmville creator's ongoing shake-up now means that chief technology officer Cadir Lee, chief operating officer David Ko, and chief people officer Colleen McCreary are no longer at the company.

A Bloomberg report last month said that another three top executives--senior vice president John Osvald, casino division vice president Jesse Janosov, and vice president Nathan Etter--were no longer working at Zynga.

The restructuring is being captained by CEO Don Mattrick, who joined Zynga in July after years as the Xbox boss at Microsoft.

"We are taking layers out of the executive rank to get senior leaders closer to important product initiatives," said Don Mattrick in an e-mail to all employees. "With that in mind, I have asked the leaders to sharpen their focus and properly densify talent to resource teams."

Mattrick went on to thank Lee, Ko, and McCreary for their work at the company. "Each person has contributed to the growth of Zynga and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Cadir Lee for his dedication in the creation of a world class technical organization during his 5 year tenure, Colleen for her work with our recruitment and people process over the last 4 years, and David Ko for the 3 years that he spent in leading various teams across the organization."

"We appreciate their contributions to Zynga’s first chapter and wish them well in their future endeavors."

Prior to Mattrick joining the company, Zynga let go 500 of its staff and closed three offices. Last week it shut down developer Draw Something developer OMGPOP, after acquiring the studio in 2012 for $180 million.

39 million people now play Zynga games on a daily basis, with the company's most recent financial results confirming that daily users have dropped by over 50 percent in the last year.

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Avatar image for RicanV
RicanV

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Edited By RicanV  Moderator

Don Mattrick pulls another Mat Trick!!! 3 more down!

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darksiED70

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Edited By darksiED70

just like the smart people in the world, mattrick hates that evil empire called microsoft so much that he infiltrated and destroyed (still in process) it from the inside out. kudos to you don. can't wait for those microsoft thieves to crash in a pile of shiirt.

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Avatar image for Gankstar_VX84
Gankstar_VX84

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lol, don't know what else to say.

Don, right now.. more people hate you then they hate the Taliban. Please just shoot yourself. I Truly would love to come on here and see a headline about how you fuckin gutted yourself, I really would. Till then I'll stick with Ice T.

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Neo_Sarevok

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Edited By Neo_Sarevok

@Gankstar_VX84 Really cool telling someone to shoot themselves...

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Avatar image for GSyynoandnoyyGS
GSyynoandnoyyGS

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Edited By GSyynoandnoyyGS

@Gankstar_VX84 come on, man. don't let him die. he hasn't ruined Activision yet

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Avatar image for macca366
macca366

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And they said social games were the future. I love you Mattrick, tear it all down

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Avatar image for tightwad34
tightwad34

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Not hating, just stating fact, but does it matter at all to the Xbox loyalists that he was in a major position of power at MS? If that doesn't tell you something about the company then you should get the wax out of your ears. No company or person is perfect but greed will never be a good thing.

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tightwad34

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Anyone else get reminded of the Looney Toons intro/outro when you saw the link pic?

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ispytheworld

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Edited By ispytheworld

Please Sony i'm begging you don't ever hire this guy.... even if he works for free..

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ispytheworld

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woah!! you are such a boss Don!! i'm impressed.

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epichotcheese

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Getting real tired of your shit, Don.

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tightwad34

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@epichotcheese Or do you mean getting tired of his greed to be specific?

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sanchango

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in other news(obviously I'm very late in this) A new humble bundle is out! :D

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Avatar image for foxrock66
foxrock66

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Edited By foxrock66

Don sure is a people person, isn't he?

5 • 
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deathstream

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The company has been falling fast. Any thinking person knew that Mattrick was going to have to shake the organization up to get it back on track. Glad to see executives getting the axe instead of lower level employees.

They were the biggest gaming company in the world and are in free fall now. Band-Aids won't stop the bleeding.

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soulless4now

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#dealwithit

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hystavito

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I've never heard of a "chief people officer".

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hadlee73

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Edited By hadlee73

"With that in mind, I have asked the leaders to sharpen their focus and properly densify talent to resource teams." It might take awhile, but I have full faith that within a year Don will have made sure the Zynga talent are as dense as those who work for Microsoft. :P

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Yatsukiii

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LOL.

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uewswsmz9r

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Don Mattricks A.K.A Microsoft's M.O.AB currently herding sheep in zynga's farmville.

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Paul2004

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One way to save cash....for dons retirement fund (Its fast approaching ;) ).

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robbiejones

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prob cause of mattricks big salary

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TheHappyDrunk

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@robbiejones Not really. I'm pretty sure he's being paid in facebook credit options.

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whatinthe999999

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Edited By whatinthe999999
@TheHappyDrunk Rarely does a comment literally have me laughing out loud. Thank ya.
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Deadly_Nemesis

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Doing a bang up job there Don.

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davehammer69

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Edited By davehammer69

Why does Gamespot keep following this tool's every move so closely? If he isn't piloting the Xbone anymore, it's not really game related news is it?

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DWalker131

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@davehammer69 its Zynga, its game related, more for the casual gamers though like farmville and all them, not us hardcore gamers lol

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Uesugi-dono

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Couldn't happen to a better company. Go Mattrick! Destroy everything you touch!

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TheHappyDrunk

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@Uesugi-dono Except that, in this case, destroying everything he touches is a GOOD thing. Death to Zynga!

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Nibraybirk

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Didn't want to pose for a stupid picture I guess.

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gamer7736

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Leaving Zynga...with friends.

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jerusaelem

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Ooooh! I sure hope he spreads his chitinous, slimy tendrils into Bioware next. If any company could use a greasy carcinogenic Mattrick-induced enema, it's Bioware.

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jerusaelem

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Enjoy that they've ruined Mass Effect, KotoR, and Dragon Age, do you? Are you super psyched that DA3 is going to be great because the ham handedly slapped Morrigan in DA2 to drag any and all beloved memories of her character through the mud, broken bottles, and filth to make a cheap dollar off of simpletons?

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liquidzr0

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@jerusaelem

No

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Deadly_Nemesis

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Edited By Deadly_Nemesis

@jerusaelem Wow...you have got to be kidding me.

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ragnar320

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well best of luck to the guy but I think the facebook game craze is coming to an end pretty soon like in the next 1 to 2 years I see it ending like any phase

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deathstream

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@ragnar320

That is why they need a strong leader with a vision for the future now more than ever.

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ecurl143

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Edited By ecurl143

I can't help feeling that the three executives that have left were commanding massive wages for doing absolutely nothing basically and that Mattrick just thought they were taking the piss.

I'll give him credit for that - outing out the deadwood from the company and weeding out the hangers on who really shouldn't be there.

Still doesn't hide the fact that Mattrick himself might follow suit this time next year.

We shall see.

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plaintomato

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Edited By plaintomato

@ecurl143 It's not uncommon for new management to result in house cleaning. Don't be surprised to see these people replaced by Mattrick contacts.

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edinko

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Edited By edinko

He probably just wanted their salaries or whatever. He is like a swarm of locusts. Sucking money and life until he can move to the next field and do the same again until there is nothing left. I suspect he will reach the bottom one day and become an apple ceo inventing even better ways to exploit children labor in Asian countries

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nurnberg

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Don Mattrick is cleaning house

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forbiddenmow

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@nurnberg yep. that's what they're paying him millions for. save the company. if he fucks this up over the next 2 years he can't blame anyone else. interesting to see how it pans out...

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DWalker131

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aww don mattty is getting Zyyyyyyyyyyyyyyynged for working at Zynga lol

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Avatar image for GSyynoandnoyyGS
GSyynoandnoyyGS

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@DWalker131 you mean bazynged?

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DWalker131

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Edited By DWalker131

@noandno To “zing” means, informally, to criticize or ridicule someone.

thats what i was going for

pretty sure Bazynged means the same thing, just emphasised more on the "Ba" part where as i like to emphasise more on the 'iiiiiiiiiing' part lol

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thermalmotion

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Aww, Matty is making fwiends.

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firehawk998

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But But thats not possible CNN, every news media, analysts they all said Social Games will destory Core gaming and we will never use a Console, Handheld, to play games anymore .////// SARCASM

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fume0101

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@firehawk998 This filled me with joy.

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StonerDemon

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An everyday visit to Zynga headquarters...

The doorman kindly salutes me. I check his name tag and it says "D. Mattrick".
Then I take the elevator and the elevator clerk says hi. His name tag says "D. Mattrick".
I reach the 5th floor lobby and talk to the secretary. Her name tag says "D. Mattrick"... wait a minute, I've seen that face before just a while ago...

Just what's happening in this company?????

11 •