With the company struggling, Zynga founder Mark Pincus returned to retake the reins last year. With the company still struggling, Pincus let go of those reins once again, and now a longtime EA exec is trying his hand and turning around the mobile games company.
Frank Gibeau left EA about a year ago and, at the beckoning of Pincus, took a seat on Zynga's board last summer. Now he has been promoted to CEO at Zynga, but Pincus isn't stepping away from the board this time around, as he will serve as an Executive Chairman.
In an email updated shareholders on the changes, Pincus and Gibeau laid out their shared vision of the pathway forward for the company.
"In terms of our respective roles, as CEO, Frank will report to our Board, leading strategy and execution," said Pincus. "I will focus on driving our vision and working with a small number of live and new product teams to help drive innovative new social experiences for our players."
Before it's fall, Zynga rocketed into prominence and infamy as a leader in casual social gaming. The company is most known for Farmville, and the lost animals that wander outside of the game world and into the news feeds of people who didn't play the game.
Just as social and casual gaming worked for Zynga, it was also the company's undoing. It didn't have the foresight to adjust to the changing climate of the space, specifically the surging importance of tablets and smartphones for connected casual gaming.
Zynga's made-for-browsers experiences soon saw the market crowd around it, with casual gamers gravitating to experiences built for their smartphones and shiny new tablets.
With Pincus back and Gibeau taking the lead, the company has vowed to catch up to the crowd and build games that standout from the pack in app stores brimming with competition.
"While we're not yet the company we aspire to be, it's clear to me that Zynga has significant strengths that it can thrive on," Gibeau said. "We have a galvanizing social gaming vision that aligns our company and our players care about. Our talented teams have developed unique technologies and tools that allow us to effectively balance the art and science of game making."
