Zynga‘s not been doing so well. This isn’t just some opinion; it’s a fact. The company’s been bleeding money since their OMGPOP acquisition. Draw Something, which Zynga apparently thought would be the new hot ticket item, turned out to be less successful than hoped. They announced that they’d be writing off between $85 and $95 million of the price they paid for the OMGPOP purchase, which equates to about half of what they shelled out for it in the first place. Now news is coming in that Zynga laid off a significant number of people during Apple’s event to try and avoid attention.
The Next Web explains:
We’ve heard from a source with first-hand knowledge tells us that the layoffs did happen in the company’s Austin office. Additionally, The Ville will be discontinued. More than 100 employees were let go and ordered to turn in their computers, phones, and badges — many of whom have been working at the company for more than two years.
There are other conflicting reports out there about Zynga’s other offices. For example, some are saying that Zynga Boston has closed up shop entirely. If this proves to be true, it’s a mighty curious time for the company to be performing such steep staffing cuts. Most of the tech world has their eyes on Apple’s event and the coverage dedicated to this closure is likely to be minimal compared to that of the iPad Mini.
(via TechCrunch, The Next Web, Joystiq)
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