Games publisher Zynga has replaced chief executive Mark Pincus with Don Mattrick, the Microsoft executive who headed the critical Xbox business, Zynga announced.
The news, reported first by AllThingsD, sent Zynga shares up more than 11 per cent earlier in the day. The shares rose a further 3 per cent to US$3.17 when Zynga confirmed the appointment after the bell.
Pincus, 47, who controls a 61 per cent voting stake in the gaming company he founded in 2007, will remain as the company’s chairman and chief product officer after personally helping to recruit Mattrick from Microsoft.
“Don is unique in the game business,” Pincus said. “He can execute in multiple domains - hardware, software and network, and he’s been the person responsible for game franchises like ‘Need for Speed,’ ‘FIFA’ and ‘The Sims.’”
Zynga’s business model, which relied heavily on selling virtual goods to gamers on Facebook’s platform, began to disintegrate a year ago as users tired of Facebook games and shifted to playing on mobile devices.
The company’s shares have hovered at just 25 per cent of its US$10 initial offering price in December 2011 as Pincus has struggled to turn around the company named after his pet bulldog.
