Zynga COO Bails

[The Wooster]

Zynga COO Bails

John Schappert has decided to call it quits after falling victim to Zynga's recent "reshuffling."

Things haven't been going well for Zynga. The company's stock price is currently doing its best impression of a submarine [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118723-Zynga-Share-Price-Crashes], its upper management faces accusations of insider trading [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118815-Law-Firm-Accuses-Zynga-Execs-of-Insider-Trading] and it's struggling through the opening rounds of a legal slugfest with EA. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118884-EA-Sues-Zynga-for-Copying-The-Sims-Social]

Last week, it was announced that Chief Operating Officer, John Schappert, was no longer responsible for the company's gaming projects, his responsibilities having been taken on by two other senior members of staff. Rather than sit around twiddling his thumbs, Schappert has elected to leave the company.

"John has made significant contributions to the games industry throughout his career and we appreciate all that he has done for Zynga," said CEO, Mark Pincus. "John leaves as a friend of the company and we wish him all the best."

Schappert, whom Zynga poached from EA little more than a year ago, made some $3.6 million when he sold off his company shares shortly before they tanked. That number pales in comparison to the hefty $200 million Pincus made by selling off a portion of his holdings.

According to the International Business Times [http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/369263/20120801/zynga-strips-coo-creative-duties-john-schappert.htm], sources within Zynga have claimed that the company was rightly or wrongly pinning the blame for its troubles on Schappert. Regardless, his demotion and subsequent exodus do not bode well for the company.

"Investors may want a scapegoat," wrote Gamasutra's Chris Morris, "but Schappert is one of the most game-savvy executives the company has. Mark Pincus, who will now oversee game development, doesn't have the experience, and should things slip further, it will further undermine confidence in his leadership abilities."

Source: Inside Social Games [http://www.insidesocialgames.com/2012/08/08/coo-john-schappert-leaves-zynga/]


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[Spygon]

Sitting on a wall spinning an axe in my hand while singing "Zyngas days are finally numbered"

To be honest this company should have gone out of business a year ago glad to see a major developer finally challenge them on there business practices.

 

[putowtin]

Wow, a story with so many twists, it'd make for a real good game.....

I'll wait for another developer to pick up on it!

 

[ScruffyMcBalls]

I'm just waiting for Zynga to finally throw up their hands and just say "Know what? Fuck it, have our money, we're going home," Because weirdly, that's the safest route they could possibly take right about now.

 

[gigastar]

Hmm... So cutting the head of that voodoo Zynga doll i made worked...

Moving onto Activision and EA...

This is all very sad ;-;

I love Farmvile and there's so many people relying on Zynga to pay the bills.

Im sorry to say that youll soon learn that Zynga supporters are few and far between on the site.

And that those who dont support Zynga range from sheer indifference to an acidic hatred.

 

[MammothBlade]

Soon, soon a chapter will be closed on social gaming forever! HAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!!!

This is all very sad ;-;

I love Farmvile and there's so many people relying on Zynga to pay the bills.

Please tell me this was sarcasm.

 

[gigastar]

Hmm... So cutting the head of that voodoo Zynga doll i made worked...

Moving onto Activision and EA...

This is all very sad ;-;

I love Farmvile and there's so many people relying on Zynga to pay the bills.

Im sorry to say that youll soon learn that Zynga supporters are few and far between on the site.

And that those who dont support Zynga range from sheer indifference to an acidic hatred.

I probably deserve some karmic acid at the moment. I was a little rude to someone in this forum earlier

Well no doubt you can see my point being proven already on this thread.

And you dont ask for karma, karma comes asking for you.

 

[mruuh]

One by one, the execs who made a fortune on the questionable share dump are leaving the sinking ship with their booty. I imagine soon, only a gutted skeleton of the company will remain, with maybe one or two "fall guys" to take the blame for insider trading.

 

[GenGenners]

Shamelessly stolen from another thread:

...
Pass the popcorn and pull up a seat.

...

I used to have that gif!

OT: Eghh.......more Zynga news? Seriously? Bored now.

 

[Kyle 2175]

Hmm, not really sure what to think of this. On one hand, every game Zynga has made seems to be designed to fill my Facebook with spam. On the other hand, I'd hate to see their employees lose their jobs. At the end of the day, they're just trying to make a living. It's the higher-ups that are screwing them over.

 

[Xanthious]

Zynga picked a really bad time to go in the shitter. Normally I'd expect to see them get bought up and the most likely candidate would probably be EA. However, EA has it's own problems now and I don't see them being in much of a position to spend that kind of money currently.

Activision might be a possibility but Zynga really doesn't seem to be something they'd be interested in. The only other candidates I can think of would possibly be Microsoft or Sony to a lesser extent. With the direction they are slowly moving consoles it wouldn't be outside of the realm of possibility to see social gaming end up there. I think Microsoft is a rather massive longshot though and Sony even more so.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

Its always funny to see the rats swimming away from the sinking ship.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

If their "games" weren't Freemium stuffed with microtransactions, I might have sympathy for them.

 

[lancar]

Its always funny to see the rats swimming away from the sinking ship.

While that is true, and I really am enjoying this a lot, I'd like for the fatcats who sailed away with the money to find their lifeboats sinking, too.

 

[Micah Weil]

Given what has happened with all that insider trading, this move is the equivalent of saying "I'm going to move out of my office and under this electron microscope so everybody with a stake in Zynga's considerable screwing up can watch my every move."

Not sure if he's brave or stupid.

 

[BloodRed Pixel]

DIE Zynga! DIE!