zynga

Zynga Chief Operating Officer John Schappert has resigned his executive position and left the troubled social-game maker's board, the company revealed today in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Schappert, who joined the San Francisco-based game maker in May 2011, was replaced as head of the games division in a corporate restructuring last week.

"We can confirm that John Schappert has left Zynga and its board of directors effective immediately," Zynga CEO Mark Pincus said in a statement. "John has made significant contributions to the games industry throughout his career and we appreciate all that he … Read more

Zynga launched its version of a restaurant social game today, boasting real-world rewards for virtual tasks.

As players advance in ChefVille, they unlock recipes that can be used for real world cooking. Players can also submit recipes to share.

The game is currently available to play on Facebook but not Zynga, yet. It's coming soon, according to a spokesperson, but no comment on why it's available on one platform and not the other.

In ChefVille, players build a restaurant by picking a theme, becoming an "ingredient specialist," cooking dishes and sharing ingredients with friends. The game … Read more

You don't need any accessories to catch up on Friday's top tech stories:

A new service called Dyle picks up live, local TV signals to watch on your mobile device. The first with this service is the MetroPCS Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G. But if you rather not drop $460 right now for a phone, iOS users may have another option this fall when Dyle attachments are expected to go on sale.

No price has been set, but the attachments could cost, at most, $150. And the service from then on is free. Would you pay for an … Read more

The punches just keep coming for Zynga.

Electronic Arts is suing the social games creator for copyright infringement, alleging that Zynga ripped off EA's "The Sims Social" when it created "The Ville," EA said today in a press release.

The gaming giant filed its lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California today.

The Sims Social is the Facebook version of EA's "The Sims" game. After launching in August 2011, the game has gained "several million active" users on Facebook, according to EA's press … Read more

It's been a dismal week for Zynga. First news of bleak revenue growth in the second quarter followed by plunging stock prices, then accusations of insider trading... and now the gaming company is being slapped with two shareholder lawsuits.

The almost identical lawsuits are being filed by two California law firms seeking class-action status on behalf of stockholders who are accusing Zynga of not warning them about slumping revenue growth before the company's shares plummeted 42 percent last week, according to Reuters.

"Zynga misrepresented or failed to disclose material adverse facts about its business, operations, and growth … Read more

Multiple law firms plan to investigate Zynga CEO Mark Pincus and other people who work at Zynga on insider-trading claims, gamer blog Kotaku noted today.

The blog listed all the firms that have announced investigations so far: Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe, Newman Ferrara, Johnson & Weaver, Wohl & Fruchter, and Levi & Korsinsky.

The maker of Farmville reported disappointing earnings on Wednesday, which caused its stock to plummet. Zynga's shares closed at $3.09 today. On Wednesday, just before Zynga's earnings report came out, the stock ended the trading day at just over $5.

The investigations note that … Read more

Apple disappointed Wall Street this week but enticed iPhone 5-eager consumers.

During its third fiscal quarter, which ran through June 30, Apple reported revenue of $35 billion and earnings of $8.8 billion, or $9.32 per share. Wall Street was expecting Apple to pull in earnings of $10.35 a share on revenue of $37.2 billion.

Apple sold 26 million iPhones during the quarter, which was down from the 29 million Wall Street expected, though up 28 percent from the same quarter last year. Apple broke its previous sales record of 15.43 million iPads, selling 17 million … Read more

Zynga reported a disappointing second quarter, cut its outlook, and saw its shares plunge after hours. The big question: Is the social-gaming run over? 

The company behind Farmville, Words With Friends, and other games distributed mostly via Facebook reported a second-quarter net loss of $22.8 million, or 3 cents a share, on revenue of $332.5 million. Non-GAAP earnings, which exclude charges, were a penny a share in the second quarter. Wall Street was looking for Zynga to report earnings of 5 cents a share on revenue of $344.1 million. 

Zynga's outlook was also … Read more

Last updated: 2:40 PM PT

Zynga's second-quarter financial results came in far below analysts' expectations, and the stock nose-dived more than 40 percent in early after hours trading.

The social-gaming company, which raised $1 billion in its December 2011 IPO, reported revenue of $332 million for the quarter ending June 30, up 19 percent year-over-year. The company reported a net loss of more than $22.8 million, a loss of 3 cents per share. For its prior quarter, Zynga reported $321 million in revenue and recorded a net loss of $85.4 million, primarily owing to stock-based … Read more