zynga

Zynga's chief marketing executive and CTO of infrastructure resigned today, joining a parade of executives fleeing the troubled game maker.

The resignation of CMO Jeff Karp was announced today in a regulatory filing (PDF) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. CTO of Infrastructure Allan Leinwand revealed on his LinkedIn page that he had assumed the position of CTO for platform development at cloud services company ServiceNow

Karp's resignation comes a month after the departure of Chief Operating Officer John Schappert, who resigned in early August after being replaced as head of the games division in a … Read more

Zynga unveiled four new games at a press event tonight designed to show developers why they should be turning to its newly launched gaming platform.

While Zynga has been hammered by its poor earnings, slumping stock prices, reported player burnout, and executives jumping ship, the company has been focusing all its attention on its new developer partners.

The developers weren't shy about their gratitude at the press event.

Matthew Cullen, president of RocketPlay -- the company that designed Sports Casino, a social sports-betting game that is based on real-time sports events -- said the company would have had to … Read more

If you're one of the tens of millions of former FarmVille players who gave up the old homestead, Zynga hopes it has a way to coax you back.

The game maker unveiled FarmVille 2 today, with the aim of bringing back former addicts as well as attracting new players.

The game was designed to more completely emulate farming with a stronger storyline and a virtual ecosystem. This means that when you grow crops, they're harvested to be used in a kitchen to make baked goods or sold on the roadside for coins. The coins can then be used … Read more

You don't have to be an advanced player to enjoy playing Zynga Poker, the free iOS version of the popular online Flash game. We found that it only takes a few games to get addicted to this iPhone app.

Zynga Poker gets off to a good start with a nicely designed user interface. It's intuitive enough that even novice users can start playing right away. Zynga Poker has several customizable options, allowing you to choose the stakes of the game, the minimum or maximum buy-in, and even the table size. To give you the real feel of a … Read more

Zynga Chief Creative Officer Mike Verdu announced his departure today. After three years at the game maker, he plans to lead his own game startup, in which Zynga will be an investor.

Verdu said in a company blog post that being at Zynga during its early days reminded him how much he loved being an entrepreneur.

"I'm very proud of my part in building this remarkable company, especially in growing and nurturing what has become a vibrant community of game designers, producers, and creative leaders," he wrote. "Now, however, it's time for me to try … Read more

At least four Zynga executives have resigned this month, including a vice president of mobile, Bloomberg reported today.

That's more bad news for the company as it continues to struggle with making money on the quickly growing mobile platform.

Ya-Bing Chu, a vice president in the company's mobile division, and Jeremy Strauser, a general manager, resigned this month, unnamed sources told Bloomberg.

Their departures follow that of Erik Bethke, a general manager of Mafia Wars 2, and Alan Patmore, a general manager for CityVille -- both publicly revealed their departure from the company earlier this week.

After a … Read more

- Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Instagram just lost $300 million, here's why.

- Angry Birds and Green Day partner for new Facebook game.

- Get your financial questions answered on Jill's podcast, Jill on Money!

- Follow Jill Schlesinger on Twitter.

Bathroom break video: Game of Thrones theme song, as performed by a cat.… Read more

Social gaming firm Zynga is teaming up with Nokia to make games Draw Something and Zynga Poker available on Nokia's Asha Touch phone models later this year.

According to a post yesterday on the Finnish phone maker's blog, the free game offerings are the next step in a partnership announced by the two companies several months ago.

Nokia's Asha 305, Asha 306, and Asha 311 phones are based on the S40 platform, and are part of the company's efforts to make up lost ground in the feature phone market. Owners of these mobile devices can … Read more

Zynga is using stock options -- a retention tactic commonly used in startups before they go public -- to keep employees at the company, according to a new report.

Zynga CEO Mark Pincus has decided to issue stock options to all of the company's employees, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, citing sources. The move is a not-so-subtle attempt on Pincus' part to boost morale and keep employees, many of whom already hold stock in the game maker, from leaving and selling off their shares when able.

Since Zynga went public at $10 per share, the company's shares … Read more