Zynga settles data theft lawsuit with former employee

Zynga and former general manager Alan Patmore have reached a settlement surrounding a 2012 lawsuit that accused the employee of "wholesale theft" of company secrets after he left the FarmVille studio to join rival gaming company Kixeye.

TechCrunch reports that the matter was settled this week. Patmore said in a statement: "I accept responsibility for making a serious mistake by copying and taking Zynga confidential information when I resigned from Zynga. I understand the consequences of my actions and I sincerely apologize to Zynga and my former colleagues."

Neither Zynga nor Kixeye disclosed terms of the settlement, but issued a joint statement that reads: "Zynga Inc. and Kixeye Inc. have reached a mutually agreeable settlement of their litigation involving Alan Patmore in San Francisco Superior Court."

As reported by TechCrunch, Zynga filed a complaint against Patmore a month after he left the company alleging that he obtained and stored more than 760 documents from his work computer in Dropbox before his final day with the company. Zynga claimed that these files contained design documents for upcoming games, as well as details about monetization plans and compensation information for employees.