Layoffs affecting 18 per cent of the Zynga work force have been confirmed by the casual gaming giant in a blog post made by CEO Mark Pincus.
“Today is a hard day for Zynga and an emotional one for every employee of our company,” wrote Pincus. “We are saying painful goodbyes to about 18% of our Zynga brothers and sisters. The impact of these layoffs will be felt across every group in the company.
“None of us ever expected to face a day like today, especially when so much of our culture has been about growth. But I think we all know this is necessary to move forward. The scale that served us so well in building and delivering the leading social gaming service on the Web is now making it hard to successfully lead across mobile and multiplatform, which is where social games are going to be played.
“These moves, while hard to face today, represent a proactive commitment to our mission of connecting the world through games. Mobile and touch screens are revolutionizing gaming. Our opportunity is to make mobile gaming truly social by offering people new, fun ways to meet, play and connect. By reducing our cost structure today we will offer our teams the runway they need to take risks and develop these breakthrough new social experiences.”
Pincus continued: “Because we’re making these moves pro-actively and from a position of financial strength, we can take care of laid off employees. We’re offering generous severance packages that reflect our appreciation for all of their work and we hope this will provide a foundation as they pursue their next professional steps.
“Although these are hard decisions, I’m confident that our strategy of building leading franchises and supporting them with the largest network is the right one for the long term.”
Around 520 staff are reported to be losing their jobs, with those in LA, New York, Austin and Dallas affected. Tweets indicate that Draw Something studio OMGPOP is also being shut down.
Source: Zynga Blog
