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More Bad News For Former Zynga Developer OMGPop
Update: As if it wasn't bad enough that Zynga closed down OMGPop a few days ago, now there's a report that the remaining few face a horrible choice.
According to Valleywag, the remaining, already terminated, employees at the developer have been told that instead of leaving immediately they could stay on for two months and train other Zynga employees in San Francisco how to do their job. If they didn't take this two-month stay of execution, they could leave but their severance package would be slashed. Furthermore, if they left this training period early, they would be considered quitting the company instead of being terminated – which is a key point of distinction in getting severance, unemployment, etc.
[Source: Valleywag]
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Original Story: In March of 2012, Zynga acquired Draw Something developer OMGPop. The company had been thrust into the spotlight with a game that millions were playing. Yesterday, Zynga closed the studio.
According The Wall Street Journal, the deal cost Zynga approximately $200 million. 440 days have passed between the announcement of the acquisition on March 21, 2012. Calculated out, that's $454,000 and change each day just for the fixed cost of acquisition.
Note that this doesn't include staff salaries and other expenses tied to the development, publication, and distribution of games. The news was disclosed yesterday via Twitter. The official OMGPop account had this to say:
While this is the last day at @zynga for many @omgpop staff, we want to thank you for all love and awesomeness over the years!
— omgpop (@omgpop) June 3, 2013
This was followed by a bit of gallows humor:
@swb1192 To a bar, as quickly as possible!
— omgpop (@omgpop) June 3, 2013
OMGPop staff also took to Twitter. Ali Nicolas, former vice president of people, shared that she found out about her termination via Facebook.
I learned via Facebook I was laid off today and @omgpop office is closed. Thanks @zynga for again reminding me how not to operate a business
— Ali Nicolas (@ali_nicolas) June 3, 2013
We spoke with a Zynga representative who told us that an all-hands meeting was held in the New York office yesterday, where all present employees were notified of the closure and layoffs. The representative also told us that in the case of someone being out of the office, human resources staff makes every attempt (phone, voice mail, email, text) to get in touch with the affected employee to notify him/her directly.
Draw Something saw a drastic drop off in users after OMGPop's acquisition by Zynga. The publisher tried to find other ways to monetize the title, with users drawing ads and a television game show. This was followed by the odd announcement of Draw Something 2, which came from Ryan Secrest on Twitter. OMGPop and the New York office were already facing challenges with Dan Porter, fromer head of that branch, departing in early April.
[Source: Valleywag]
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