Anyone who’s ever played the incredibly popular social game FarmVille is probably already aware of who Zynga is. But for those of you unfamiliar, this mobile game developer has been responsible for a slew of hit iOS titles like CityVille, Words With Friends, and Zynga Poker.
A lot of individuals give the creative minds at Zynga a lot of credit, considering almost every game they crank out is an instant star. So imagine how devastated people were to hear that Zynga’s COO, John Schappert, would be resigning from his position with the company just a few short weeks ago. And now, recent developments are saying that another major development head is making his way out the door, although not for the same reasons.
Zynga’s now Ex-CCO, Mike Verdu, has announced that he will also be leaving the company, in order to start up his own mobile game development studio. Verdu made the following statements concerning his departure;
“Being at Zynga in the early days reminded me of how much I love being an entrepreneur. After a lot of soul-searching, I have decided to go back to my roots and start a new company. It’s tough to leave people I admire and respect – and something that I have helped to build. I thank Mark [Pincus] for his leadership, friendship, and unwavering support.”
It seems the friendship support is mutual too. Mark Pincus also released a statement concerning the employment loss of his CCO;
“Mike has been a good friend to me personally as well as professionally, and has been an influential creative leader to us all. I’m proud of the legacy that Mike has helped build and the deep bench of creative talent and leaders who will carry the torch and shape the next wave of creativity at Zynga. Zynga will be on the ground floor with Mike on his next venture as an investor in his new start up. We are excited for Mike in this next chapter in his distinguished career and we are grateful for his contributions to Zynga.”
Whatever Verdu’s start up is, it’s a safe bet that it will succeed, considering his track record with Zynga, and the mass of support he is receiving from his industry friends.
Photo Credit: Zynga
