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Zynga closes three offices

Social gaming company shuts down outfits in Baltimore and Texas in effort to drive long-term profitability.

As part of an initiative to drive long-term profitability, Zynga has closed three studios, the social gaming company announced today. The McKinney and downtown Austin, Texas, offices have been shut down, as well as the company's outfit in Baltimore, Maryland.

Staff at the McKinney and downtown Austin offices will be relocated to Zynga's existing Dallas and North Austin offices, the company said.

Zynga's Baltimore studio was established in 2009 with Civilization designer Brian Reynolds leading the outfit and acting as chief game designer for the company at large. Reynolds left Zynga at the end of January.

In addition, Zynga said it will consolidate its New York City offices to move staff to its NYC mobile studio. It is not clear how many were impacted by the studio closures, though the company said those in Baltimore who requested a transfer were relocated to other Zynga studios, and the overall impact was "minimal."

"These changes will further enable us to focus our resources on our most strategic opportunities," Zynga said in a statement. "We're already working to execute on leveraging franchises to build the largest game network and be profitable on an adjusted EBITDA [Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization] basis. We still have a lot of work to do, but I'm confident that we’re on the right path to deliver on the potential of Zynga."

It has been tough going at Zynga of late. The company enacted a major round of layoffs in October and has seen numerous top-level staff defections in the past year. The company's lawsuit with Electronic Arts over The Ville has been settled, though terms were not specified.

Eddie Makuch
By Eddie Makuch, News Editor

Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.

32 comments
Sharwulf32
Sharwulf32

YES! now my mom will get the f*** off of farmville >:D

thequickshooter
thequickshooter like.author.displayName 1 Like

how is this even related to gaming??

jhcho2
jhcho2

@thequickshooter  

Because the CEO of Zynga once made a ridiculous statement about how social gaming is the way forward and that conventional gaming is becoming less relevant. Zynga's failure is a testament that he was wrong, and that makes people like me want to read it even more

PSYCHOV3N0M
PSYCHOV3N0M like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 4 Like

*yawn* Let me know when the headline says: "Zynga closes all offices"

keyb0red
keyb0red

Well sad fact is, the little people (ex-Zyngas?) will be left jobless while the top *ahem* dogs, the CEOs who are driving the co. into the ground and stupidly investing in dud startups will, end of the day, leave all of it in a smoking ruin while they speed away in their porsches and maseratis into the sunset

The 1% wins again :)

fredwv
fredwv

People got tired of Words with Friends?  Wow... I'm shocked... NOT!

2bitSmOkEy
2bitSmOkEy

lol you all are ruthless.  There are a lot of people's ability to put food on the table going down the toilet.  Who cares that they make shitty facebook games, you don't have to play them you know.

xeoneex66
xeoneex66

I don't really like hearing people losing jobs in this economically upside-down world.  However if anyone was dumb enough to work for Zynga, they dont deserve to work in the gaming industry period.

I love this quote, "These changes will further enable us to focus our resources on our most strategic opportunities," Zynga said in a statement.  You mean like the Hindenburg as it burst into flames?  Wait, I do see the resemblance.  Both going down in a flaming wreck.  

Daian
Daian

Burn Zynga, return to the infernal flames that spawned you!

PumpkinBoogie
PumpkinBoogie

Long term profitability, eh?? 

And how do they expect THAT to last? Guess y'all should've stayed w/ FB......just sayin'.

LemonCreed
LemonCreed

Seems people are finally wising up to the complete rip-offs this shady company employ. I'm glad they've had to close offices. Some of the real money purchase prices they ask for are shocking. Good riddance.

silentcell
silentcell like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

They're plagiarizing THQ now?!! When will it end with these people??

Savior4Life
Savior4Life like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 4 Like

Great! The closer these douches get to bankrupt the better! $^&%ing leaches......

elsmitty
elsmitty like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 5 Like

I don't think anyone actually cares about this garbage company.

soulless4now
soulless4now like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 6 Like

This is the highlight of my day. 

endorbr
endorbr

People finally starting to really Zynga games are crap and cutting into their bottom line?

Riddick123
Riddick123 like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 6 Like

Don't they usually steal most of their ideas anyway?

Gallowhand
Gallowhand like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 14 Like

I'm always sorry to see people lose their jobs, but I honestly don't have any sympathy for Zynga at all, given their track record.

MW2ismygame
MW2ismygame like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 11 Like

1) im sorry for the employees 

2) ***k off Zynga and die faster

gatsbythepig
gatsbythepig like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

If Zynga were on fire, I'd piss on them... but not to help extinguish the fire.

Killer6b9
Killer6b9

Well hell I thought they were gone already....I guess that shows how much I pay attention to them....oh well it will happen eventually.....

Green_Chaos
Green_Chaos

@Killer6b9 No...They closed down at least 3 of the games that some people played. They may have to close down more, the ones that are sequels closed

KiLLLeR150
KiLLLeR150 like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 6 Like

Finally, some good news about Zynga! Now keep on closing offices until 0 remain.

WingChopMasta
WingChopMasta like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 7 Like

haha they should change the definition of Oxymoron to this statement. Zynga and long term profitability is probably the funniest thing I have ever heard.

Theres a shocker. Saturating a market without any real substance didn't last long. I thought Zynga used Psychology to trick people into spending money but they couldn't use those same PHD's to explain what a trend bubble is and how fast they pop? 

This whole situation is wrapped in Irony. This is the greatest bad news there is. 

torres_unix
torres_unix

Zynga doesn't even qualify as a game development company, more like a game plagiarizing company.  Not to mention the most annoying logo in software development history - that dog gets treated better than their developers.

EvilShabazz
EvilShabazz like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 10 Like

Die faster, Zynga.  Thanks.

quebec946
quebec946 like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 8 Like

simply go bankrupt

your games are bad and you should feel bad zynga.

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