Rumor: Zynga Hit With Big Layoffs - UPDATED

[Andy Chalk]

Rumor: Zynga Hit With Big Layoffs - UPDATED

Zynga has reportedly laid off large numbers of employees from its Boston, Austin and Chicago studios, and tried to camouflage the move by making it during the Apple press event.

Zynga's struggles have begun to take a toll on rank-and-file workers, as the company is rumored to have cut more than 100 employees from its studio in Austin. The news came from Twitter user Justin Maxwell, a friend of a former Austin employee, who reported that the layoff notification came during today's Apple press event and that employees were given just two hours to vacate the building.

According to his source, the layoffs have affected the "The Ville and Bingo" teams. Electronic Arts third quarter loss [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118884-EA-Sues-Zynga-for-Copying-The-Sims-Social] in the range of $90 to $105 million.

Similar reports about Zynga's studios in Chicago [https://twitter.com/pitrsin/status/260786990847492096] have also surfaced on Twitter, although no numbers have been reported in those cases. We'll update as more details become available.

Source: Twitter [https://twitter.com/303/status/260801024732827649]

UPDATE: Both VentureBeat [http://gamasutra.com/view/news/180005/Breaking_Mass_layoffs_closures_at_Zynga.php#.UIbntoYZ9iS] have independently confirmed the layoffs; VentureBeat says "almost" the entire Austin staff has been laid off, while Gamasutra states that the studio has been shut down entirely. Either way, we wish all the best to everyone affected by the cuts.

UPDATE 2: Gamasutra now says it has confirmation that Zynga's Boston studio has been shut down as well. "The outpouring of support for us has been incredible," Fareed Mosavat, the general manager of the Boston studio, tweeted [https://twitter.com/far33d] in the wake of the closure. "Love this Boston scene."

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[Legion]

It sucks for the employees. Hopefully they find a more stable company to work for, but that's not much of a guarantee considering how game creating seems to work.

It's kind of funny how so many of us would love to work in the industry, but it really is a far from ideal occupation in reality.

 

[FEichinger]

Who would've thought? A company that's been holding a massive scheme to grab as much money as possible through plagiarism and now changes to web-casinos lays off a ton of people that aren't needed anymore.

Don't get me wrong, it sucks for the employees and all that ... But colour me definitely-not-surprised-at-all.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Who would've thought? A company that's been holding a massive scheme to grab as much money as possible through plagiarism and now changes to web-casinos lays off a ton of people that aren't needed anymore.

Don't get me wrong, it sucks for the employees and all that ... But colour me definitely-not-surprised-at-all.

This. My condolences to the affected employees and ex-employees, obviously, but I can't say I have any pity for Zynga itself. Social gaming needs to find its letters of nobility, and that won't happen through freemium Facebook bullshit.

Hopefully, this will spell the end of every goddamned "-ville" game in existence.

 

[Pebkio]

All of the layoffs were immediately sued as soon as they got other jobs in the industry.

 

[Fappy]

It sucks for the employees. Hopefully they find a more stable company to work for, but that's nor much of a guarantee considering how game creating seems to work.

It's kind of funny how so many of us would love to work in the industry, but it really is a far from ideal occupation in reality.

That's the sad truth

I've known people who are much happier working for "boring" companies than they were when they were working in the game industry. It's not like that at every company, but it seems to be a pretty common thing unfortunately.

 

[cynicalsaint1]

It sucks for the employees. Hopefully they find a more stable company to work for, but that's nor much of a guarantee considering how game creating seems to work.

It's kind of funny how so many of us would love to work in the industry, but it really is a far from ideal occupation in reality.

Agreed.
I can't help but wonder what this is doing too the company's leadership - they're the ones who deserve to be punished for their companies' failings, but I can't shake the feeling that they're more than willing to layoff as many as they need before they'd ever give themselves a pay cut.

 

[Tiamat666]

I wonder what kind of people lead these companies nowadays. Ever heard of organic growth? It's the opposite of this:

Yesterday:
"Let's hire 20 people and make a game!"

Today:
"Wow, or game is making millions! Hire a bazillion people and lets DO THIS!!!"

Tomorrow:
"Shit, costs too high! Lay off the bazillion people!"

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Tough break to all the guys getting laid off, Unemployment really sucks, especially in this economy. But with I.T degrees they hopefully won't be down in the gutter too long before they get other work.

As for the company itself...

 

[Ken Sapp]

As much as I have sympathy for the employees laid off, I've been there and it sucks, I have no sympathy for Zynga as a company. It produces cheap, opportunistic crap in my opinion and I would much rather it and others like it disappear and allow better companies with more original concepts to flourish.

On a side note: While perusing the Google Play store and the Chrome web store I am overwhelmed by the number blatant ripoffs of successful apps, particularly games. Some don't even make an effort to conceal or differentiate themselves from the apps they are ripping off.

 

[vxicepickxv]

As much as I have sympathy for the employees laid off, I've been there and it sucks, I have no sympathy for Zynga as a company. It produces cheap, opportunistic crap in my opinion and I would much rather it and others like it disappear and allow better companies with more original concepts to flourish.

On a side note: While perusing the Google Play store and the Chrome web store I am overwhelmed by the number blatant ripoffs of successful apps, particularly games. Some don't even make an effort to conceal or differentiate themselves from the apps they are ripping off.

That's because the requirement to ensure that a game is an original IP is on the owners of the IP, so if you can throw up a clone and hop town before you get shut down, then you do it. It's a hell of a terrible mentality.

 

[kburns10]

Tough break to all the guys getting laid off, Unemployment really sucks, especially in this economy. But with I.T degrees they hopefully won't be down in the gutter too long before they get other work.

As for the company itself...

Couldn't have said it better myself. Maybe this will force them to *GASP* produce UNIQUE games! What a terrible fate that would be for them if they had to be original.

 

[blackrave]

While it is bad for ex-employees, I don't feel bad about decline of Zynga
It is like if in the end of Star Wars after Empire was defeated someone would start screaming BOOO! because of all those clone troopers who lost jobs
Greater good people, greater good.

 

[juyunseen]

All of the layoffs were immediately sued as soon as they got other jobs in the industry.

These were my thoughts exactly.

OT: I'm gonna have to agree. Despite the layoffs sucking for the employees, there's no Zynga would have held together. Too many people, not enough actual work in the company.

 

[weirdee]

As much as it is fun to say anything about "calling it" it's kind of like predicting the boat will crash when it is plowing full speed ahead towards something as large as, say, Australia.

that being said i regret not looking into getting some options to resell before things went down