Zynga has witnessed a major change at the top management as CEO Don Mattrick is leaving the social gaming company after he was hired in 2013.
The former Xbox executive’s departure is effective immediately and the founder Mark Pincus is back to take the reins and lead the company to adapt to the changing times in the industry.
Addressing his own return to the role of Zynga CEO, Mark said: “I am returning to the company that I love in order to accelerate innovation in the most popular categories like Action Strategy and strengthen our focus on our core areas like Invest and Express. I look forward to partnering with our leaders to intensify our focus on social experiences for the millions of consumers who play our games.”
The company said Mark has requested an annual salary of $1 as CEO.
Don, who Zynga said will receive a $4 million payout failed to capitalise on the popularity of its FarmVille game with new hits. As chief executive, he focused on accelerating Zynga’s mobile game efforts.
“I plan to return to Canada to pursue my next challenge,” Don said in a statement.
“Don joined us in a very important time in our evolution. I sincerely thank him for his leadership in better serving our players in a mobile-first world and for delivering world class quality and value to our consumers,” Mark said in a statement.
Pincus founded Zynga, once one of Silicon Valley’s fastest growing companies, in 2007, and the path to recovery has been tortuous. It posted a loss of $226 million last year and non-GAAP revenue dwindled to $694 million from $1.15 billion in 2012.
“I am inspired by our upcoming products,” Mark said. “It is the most exciting slate of mobile games in Zynga’s history with titles like Empires & Allies, Dawn of Titans, and FarmVille: Harvest Swap. These games are coming on the heels of one of the most successful mobile launches in our history with Wizard of Oz Slots, which was launched this past November by our Spooky Cool team in Chicago.”