With share prices dropping since Facebook went public, the social game maker Zynga is having the worst time of its life. Zynga is among the top game developers for Facebook, its titles FarmVille & Mafia Wars have been played by millions of Facebook users around the world. The decline in the number of users as well as the loss of some of its top brass, Zynga is having a bad year. Recent bad news comes in the form of COO John Schappert, leaving the proverbial ship in search of greener pastures. More on this after the break.
CEO Mark Pincus confirmed that Schappert stepped down as COO this week saying:
We can confirm that John Schappert has left Zynga and its Board of Directors effective immediately. John has made significant contributions to the games industry throughout his career and we appreciate all that he has done for Zynga. John leaves as a friend of the company and we wish him all the best.
If this wasn’t enough, Zynga also saw a sharp 38% decline in stock prices over its $23 Million net loss in the second quarter of 2012. Zynga was planning to change all this with its new game The Ville which had borrowed heavily from The Sims Social from EA. This time around Electronic Arts decided it had enough and has lodged a lawsuit against Zynga, asking for a permanent ban on the game. If Zynga doesn’t change its ways soon, this might not be the only trouble they’ll be in.
