Zynga in Growth Pains or Death Spiral?
Social networking game maker Laying Off Staff - Closing Studios - Shutting Down Games
Many in what has been called 'the Real Games Industry' are today taking a rather churlish view of the fact that independent social networking games maker Zynga has announced shedloads of bad news in the forms of games and studio closures and staff lay-offs. This churlish view is mostly, "thank god we didn't go down that road".
For it's part, Zynga is remaining sanguine just not upbeat with CEO Mark Pincus issuing an internal memo. Beware, before you read the full text, it uses horrible language to try and get around the facts that:
* Staff are losing their jobs before Xmas.
* 13 games are closing.
* An entire studio - Boston - is closing.
* A revenue stream - albeit one made from terrible, annoying, uncreative games - is potentially being lost to developers.
* Proposed closures of the Zynga Japan and UK studios.
Language used to cover this horrendous piece of hubris includes:
"Sunsetting" to mean closing studios and sacking people.
"Streamline our operations" to mean closing studios and sacking people.
"reducing staffing levels" to mean, well, sacking human beings.
"small number of partner team reductions" - see above.
"unfortunately be parting ways with approximately 5% of our full time workforce" - see above.
"discussing these difficult changes more with our teams and as a company" - telling people they are sacked.
Here we go:
"Earlier today we initiated a number of changes to streamline our operations, focus our resources on our most strategic opportunities, and invest in our future. We waited to share this news with all of you until we had first spoken with the groups impacted.
"As part of these changes, we’ve had to make some tough decisions around products, teams and people. I want to fill you in on what's happened and address any concerns you may have.
"Here are the most important details.
"We are sunsetting 13 older games and we’re also significantly reducing our investment in The Ville.
"We are closing the Zynga Boston studio and proposing closures of the Zynga Japan and UK studios. Additionally, we are reducing staffing levels in our Austin studio. All of these represent terrific entrepreneurial teams, which make this decision so difficult.
In addition to these studios, we are also making a small number of partner team reductions.
"In all, we will unfortunately be parting ways with approximately 5% of our full time workforce. We don’t take these decisions lightly as we recognize the impact to our colleagues and friends who have been on this journey with us. We appreciate their amazing contributions and will miss them.
"This is the most painful part of an overall cost reduction plan that also includes significant cuts in spending on data hosting, advertising and outside services, primarily contractors.
"These reductions, along with our ongoing efforts to implement more stringent budget and resource allocation around new games and partner projects, will improve our profitability and allow us to reinvest in great games and our Zynga network on web and mobile.
"Zynga made social gaming and play a worldwide phenomenon, and we remain the industry leader. Our success has come from our dedication to a simple and powerful proposition – that play is not just something people do to pass time, it’s a core need for every person and culture.
We will all be discussing these difficult changes more with our teams and as a company. Tomorrow, Dave and I will be hosting a post-earnings webcast (details to follow) and next week we will be discussing our broader vision and strategy during our quarterly all-hands meeting. I’m confident this puts us on the right path to deliver on the promise of social gaming and make Zynga into an internet treasure."
Via TechCrunch
For it's part, Zynga is remaining sanguine just not upbeat with CEO Mark Pincus issuing an internal memo. Beware, before you read the full text, it uses horrible language to try and get around the facts that:
* Staff are losing their jobs before Xmas.
* 13 games are closing.
* An entire studio - Boston - is closing.
* A revenue stream - albeit one made from terrible, annoying, uncreative games - is potentially being lost to developers.
* Proposed closures of the Zynga Japan and UK studios.
Language used to cover this horrendous piece of hubris includes:
"Sunsetting" to mean closing studios and sacking people.
"Streamline our operations" to mean closing studios and sacking people.
"reducing staffing levels" to mean, well, sacking human beings.
"small number of partner team reductions" - see above.
"unfortunately be parting ways with approximately 5% of our full time workforce" - see above.
"discussing these difficult changes more with our teams and as a company" - telling people they are sacked.
Here we go:
"Earlier today we initiated a number of changes to streamline our operations, focus our resources on our most strategic opportunities, and invest in our future. We waited to share this news with all of you until we had first spoken with the groups impacted.
"As part of these changes, we’ve had to make some tough decisions around products, teams and people. I want to fill you in on what's happened and address any concerns you may have.
"Here are the most important details.
"We are sunsetting 13 older games and we’re also significantly reducing our investment in The Ville.
"We are closing the Zynga Boston studio and proposing closures of the Zynga Japan and UK studios. Additionally, we are reducing staffing levels in our Austin studio. All of these represent terrific entrepreneurial teams, which make this decision so difficult.
In addition to these studios, we are also making a small number of partner team reductions.
"In all, we will unfortunately be parting ways with approximately 5% of our full time workforce. We don’t take these decisions lightly as we recognize the impact to our colleagues and friends who have been on this journey with us. We appreciate their amazing contributions and will miss them.
"This is the most painful part of an overall cost reduction plan that also includes significant cuts in spending on data hosting, advertising and outside services, primarily contractors.
"These reductions, along with our ongoing efforts to implement more stringent budget and resource allocation around new games and partner projects, will improve our profitability and allow us to reinvest in great games and our Zynga network on web and mobile.
"Zynga made social gaming and play a worldwide phenomenon, and we remain the industry leader. Our success has come from our dedication to a simple and powerful proposition – that play is not just something people do to pass time, it’s a core need for every person and culture.
We will all be discussing these difficult changes more with our teams and as a company. Tomorrow, Dave and I will be hosting a post-earnings webcast (details to follow) and next week we will be discussing our broader vision and strategy during our quarterly all-hands meeting. I’m confident this puts us on the right path to deliver on the promise of social gaming and make Zynga into an internet treasure."
Via TechCrunch
Companies:
Zynga
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