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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 Tzardok
Tzardok

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I don't really know Don, so everything I think of him is based on what gets published. Though I have great reserves against Don, I don't really see this as a bad thing (regarding the top-ranked officers that is). Zynga is a piece of junk, released junk, and fished "players". I am not even sure we should call their audience "players", they wait for an upgrade to complete and socialize to get more people into their town, farm or whatever. Bottom line is, the company is in very bad shape right now, therefore letting the leaders go seems like a logical and effective choice.

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bunchanumbers

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Mattrick is the Batman of gaming. He fights evil corporations from the inside, and after he does his damage he moves onto the next evil corporation to destroy. Look what he did to MS and now he battles with Zynga. He is Vengeance. He is the Night. He... is... MATTRICK!

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R2C25

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@bunchanumbers Too bad Son¥ doesn't have $ for him to rock their already shaky world.

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Tzardok

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@bunchanumbers I hope he joins EA after this!

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sgt_F79

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@Tzardok @bunchanumbers Let's not forget Activision.

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TheWatcher000

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@sgt_F79 You Had It Right The First Time. :)

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saltbalsak

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@sgt_F79 You were right the first time, it's "let's" as in "let us" a contraction denoted by the '

:-)

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sgt_F79

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Edited By sgt_F79

@Tzardok @bunchanumbers Lets*

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Hiddai

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Edited By Hiddai

Surprising...NOT

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canuckbiker

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Users dropped 50%. I wonder if the mobile gaming fad is calming down, of people are too busy playing the newest iteration of angry birds to play their games. Feel bad for the 500 workers laid off, unlike the chief officers most of them don't get a big severance pack when they leave.

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sgt_F79

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Enter the Mattrick!

2 • 
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AlphaWolF_J

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The Don effect in action again

I came ,i destroyed , i got paid.

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aus_pride

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The Don is a low life in every sense of the word, well that's two words but you know what I mean.

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Riddick123

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@aus_pride Heh, the turd found the sewer. Zynga is no better.

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tipton_bradley

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why does every mobile game have to be f2p.. turns all games into a 30 minute adventure untill I need to pull money out of my pocket.

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Avatar image for deactivated-58270bc086e0d
deactivated-58270bc086e0d

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@tipton_bradley That is why. They want your money. It is the reason I despise facebook games and many iOS or other mobile games. I'd much rather pay more initially for exponentially more content.

5 • 
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Tzardok

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@Dannystaples14 @tipton_bradley So true Danny, it is so hard to find "gems" in iOS now days... Facebook never really had anything for me.

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muffin200

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I guess it's a nice change from sack the workers and let the bosses do as they like.

2 • 
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Tzardok

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@muffin200 Exactly. Blame where blame is due.

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xxxxTRISTAMxxxx

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It makes no sense. They bring this guy on which costs them a pretty penny and then the let go 6 major executives and their daily users are down by 50%. I am no genius put this company sounds like it is going to in serious financial trouble.

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ACMC85

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@xxxxTRISTAMxxxx To be fair, the daily user drop happened before he new CEO got there. But the big question is, WHY do they have so many Chief _____ officers?

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SolidIngram

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I don't foresee any good coming out of this, nor do I see Zynga ever thriving as a company again.

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maddogmark25

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Chief People Officer? Really? Another fine example of corporate America.

5 • 
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leviathanwing

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@maddogmark25 fancy way of saying HR

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fredyellowone

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@leviathanwing @maddogmark25

Homerun?

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MjnE

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http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/51d1cd776bb3f7ab37000071-560-363/bog9r_ccaaahouw.jpeg

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Shinra_Tensei4

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@MjnE microsoft sinking? lol

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borkkmor00

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@MjnE Microsoft is far away from sinking...Zynga on the other hand could go either way: turn it all around or faceplant

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Rainsing

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Edited By Rainsing

No one thinks it is Pincus's idea?

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Avatar image for deactivated-5e90a3763ea91
deactivated-5e90a3763ea91

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Chief people officer? What do they do, I'm just curious now lol.

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gostor_lives

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lololol

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lilnazar

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This may actually turn out to be a good idea. He will close each company one by one.

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berserker66666

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Good job Don Mattrick. At this rate, you'll close down Zynga in no time. I suggest you join EA next.

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damodar_thade

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@berserker66666 I really hope he does, and that instead of bleeding staff old idie studios split off and get back to work.

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Axile11

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@berserker66666 that might actually come back to bite gamers

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Tzardok

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@Axile11 @berserker66666 How so? Gamers are currently at the mercy of these jokers. Sometimes we need to destroy in order to rebuild. Every time we start over we build things better than before... Well at least it makes sense. I say hammer EA, Activision and Zynga for all I care. It is time for the next generation to take over. Old people need to retire, they are holding off the progress of the industry right now.

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ChiefFreeman

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Edited By ChiefFreeman

Mattrick joined a sinking ship. There's nothing he can do at this point to turn them around.

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Monsterkillah

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He's the one sinking it even further

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Tzardok

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@Monsterkillah Firing incompetent officers? And for once not targeting the work force? Sounds like he has his stuff together. If a company fails its a leadership fault. Period. I for once am excited to see if he can pull this off or not.

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001011000101101

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"Each person has contributed to the growth of Zynga and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Cadir Lee for his money, Colleen for her money, and David Ko for his money."

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borkkmor00

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@001011000101101 Zynga didn't make money off of their executives but rather off of the 60 million people that used to play their games.

Think

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B74kD37H

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Mattrick must work for bain capital

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Axile11

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@B74kD37H Calm down, Now's not the time for fear. That comes later.

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Yomigaeru

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@Axile11 @B74kD37H Agreed. I'm reserving my "Dooooooooomed!!!" exclamations for a later date.

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Monsterkillah

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Pirates of Carribean The Curse of Don Mattrick

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Axile11

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@Monsterkillah Arrgh!! dat be a terrible joke

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Srenuka14

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Edited By Srenuka14

I love how gamespot uses the same pic for almost every zynga article. Its like mattrick is the cause of all this because he came there ..

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Tzardok

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@Srenuka14 The power of free-sensecional press my friend. Better to have this than the alternative though. Imagine censorship because a picture is not updated. The horror...

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