Zynga culls another 500 staff

Zynga has been bleeding staff and studios all over the world since its height, early on last year. Since then, it's consolidated and consolidated some more and recently, it's felt the need to do so again, cutting another 520 staff from its roster, in what's being described as a “restructuring effort.”

This makes up a pretty large portion of Zynga's worldwide workforce, 18 per cent in total – this is expected to save the Facebook game maker around $70 million a year in staff costs.

The official statement however doesn't touch on the savings aspect, just the sadness they all feel about having to let more staff members go. It reads: “None of us ever expected to face a day like today, especially when so much of our culture has been about growth. But I think we all know this is necessary to move forward. The scale that served us so well in building and delivering the leading social gaming service on the Web is now making it hard to successfully lead across mobile and multiplatform, which is where social games are going to be played.”

Liquor in the front, Poker… out the front door.

Zynga has seen a real contraction of its social networking game business, prompting several re-directions in recent months. Initially it announced it would be switching focus to gambling titles, but it now looks like the company as a whole will be switching over to a more mobile orientated game development.

“Our opportunity is to make mobile gaming truly social by offering people new, fun ways to meet, play and connect.  By reducing our cost structure today we will offer our teams the runway they need to take risks and develop these breakthrough new social experiences,” the statement continues.

Of course many people would argue about “breakthroughs,” with Zynga, considering the company has a history of ripping off ideas from much smaller companies and from EA/Maxis, which cost it in the court room – though not as much as many hoped.
The statement concludes by showing off some of the latest Zynga game statistics, including that Running with Friends had received a 4.5 app rating over more than 22,000 reviews.KitGuru Says: It's always a shame when a big block of people lose their jobs, but it's hard to feel sorry for Zynga as a whole, when its business practices have been far from savoury.[Cheers MCV]

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