Zynga founder Mark Pincus has stepped down from his role as chief product officer to focus on serving as the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the company has announced.
“Founder Mark Pincus has decided to move on from his operational role as Chief Product Officer at Zynga to focus on serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors,” said Zynga CEO Don Mattrick in a letter to employees, in part.
“While I’ll still keep an office at Zynga, and be active in supporting the company, I will not have an operating role,” Pincus said. “Most importantly, I remain Zynga’s largest shareholder and biggest believer.”
This marks the second major role change for Pincus inside a year, after he handed the CEO role to former head of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business Don Mattrick in July 2013.
The announcement also detailed some restructuring within the company, and three new executives have joined the firm; Alex Garden, former General Manager of Xbox LIVE and Xbox Music, is President of Zynga Studios; Henry LaBounta, who has held roles at Electronic Arts and Microsoft Studios, is now Chief Visual Officer; and Jennifer Nuckles is the firm’s Chief Marketing Officer.
Executive Vice President of games Steve Chiang is leaving Zynga after four years at the company, and COO Clive Downie, CFO David Lee, GC Devang Sha, NaturalMotion CEO Torsten Reil and President of Zynga Studios Alex Garden will all report directly to Mattrick.
“These organizational changes are critical to help us execute more nimbly against our strategic frame of grow and sustain, create new hits and drive efficiencies,” Mattrick said, in part. “As we grow our culture of innovation, I am confident that these leaders will strengthen our creative and technical capabilities as well as nurture and mentor our existing teams.”
(via CVG)