More Zynga Execs Leave, Company Fills in the Voids - The UpStream

More Zynga Execs Leave, Company Fills in the Voids

posted Sunday Sep 21, 2014 by Nicholas DiMeo

More Zynga Execs Leave, Company Fills in the Voids

Earlier this year, Zynga said it would be shaking up its executive positions and since Don Mattrick took over as CEO, that's been a reality. Even through multiple quarters of missed projections, the company is still looking ahead. Now, two more senior developers have left the company and Zynga is bringing on new talent to fill the holes.

First, both senior vice presidents of games, Tim LeTourneau and Steve Parkis, have left the company. Their successes have been with all of the "Ville" games, specifically FarmVille. Also leaving the crew was the head of Social Slots, Maytal Olsha.

As we talked about in the past, new president of Zynga Studios Alex Garden was brought on in April, with the sole mission of hiring people from outside of the company that have different skillsets unrelated to gaming. In addition to that motive, Zynga will also be looking to give its existing employee new or expanded roles within the ranks. Jamie Davies, one of the critical members of the FarmVille franchise, will become the new vice president of games.

Externally, Zynga has brought in Tony Leech to be the new creative director. Leech's repertoire includes the role of producer for Hoodwinked and Escape from Planet Earth. Sketch artist, art director and production director for Pixar, Jim Pearson, will make his way over as art director for Zynga now. Start-up entertainment company Red Robot will see cofounder Pete Hawley fit into the GM and president of creative positions. Red Robot's John Davison has also joined the company as senior director of network content and has previously worked in the gaming industry press.

Zynga has also started up a new intellectual property, Zynga NaturalMotion. Julian Widdows, formerly with Codemasters Racing and the Dirt franchise will head up the team as general manager. Finally, a second GM has been added to NaturalMotion. Catherine Silvestre has begun employment at Zynga, and has previously worked for Warner Bros.

What do you think of all these additions? Will this put Zynga in a better position to fully understand its position in the space and move forward? Let us know in the comments below.

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