Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Former EA Vice President Frank Gibeau Named New Zynga CEO
Frank Gibeau, a former EA vice president who spent 20 years with the publisher, has a new role. He was named today as the new CEO of Zynga, with company founder Marc Pincus stepping down from the role once more.
Prior to his appointment today, Gibeau served on Zynga’s board for seven months. Pincus will serve as executive chairman of the board. In taking over, Gibeau has a $117 million net loss from the most recent fiscal year to contend with.
The company is rededicating itself to social gaming, but refocusing on mobile gamers instead of those on Facebook. “Despite the success of mobile games, Mark and I believe that the full promise of Zynga and social gaming has yet to be fully realized,” Gibeau wrote in an email to staff. “People are spending more and more time playing games on mobile, but there’s far too much friction to find friends to play with. We believe that Zynga has an opportunity to create new social experiences to connect even more players together. Reaching that potential and fulfilling our mission to connect the world through games is what drives us.”
While at EA, Gibeau served as executive vice president of mobile. While there, he was involved with the release and management of major earners, including Simpsons: Tapped Out and the Real Racing series.
[Source: Zynga]
Our Take
Gibeau follows not only Pincus, but former Xbox boss Don Mattrick. The latter failed to turn the ailing Zynga around and left in relatively short order. In his two decades at EA, Gibeau made a name for himself and brought the company successfully into the mobile space. Repairing the ailing FarmVille maker will be an even bigger challenge.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
