Mattrick resigns as CEO of Zynga

San Francisco-based social gaming giant Zynga has announced the resignation of CEO Don Mattrick after just short of two years in the CEO hot seat; he will be replaced by Zynga founder Mark Pincus at the helm of the troubled company.

The publications Verge and GamaSutra reported Wednesday that Mattrick felt it was time to leave and make way for Pincus’s vision for the company.

In a company statement Pincus praised Mattrick’s leadership in getting the company more securely into the mobile sector, and revealed that going forward he intends to concentrate on the Action Strategy category and strengthen the focus on Zynga’s core capabilities.

Although analysts have accused him of some serious mistakes along the way, Mattrick probably leaves Zynga in better health than he found it, when players and managers alike were bailing on the company and revenues were in decline.

He is particularly acknowledged for increasing the group’s mobile penetration, which has seen contributions to the group rise from 27 percent to 60 percent.

His cost cutting was extensive and ruthless, but necessary, observers say, and included moving the company away from real-money online poker.

Although he was unable to restore Zynga to its peak he arrested its decline in large measure and strengthened its position in the international social casino vertical.

It is not known where Mattrick, a Microsoft and Electronics Arts alumni, is headed for next.