Struggling social games developer Zynga has turned to board member and former Electronic Arts (EA) executive Frank Gibeau to be its new CEO, as the company looks to recover its position as a leading games/content producer.
Gibeau’s appointment will see Mark Pincus become Executive Chairman, Pincus had returned as leader of the developer last April as Zynga performance metrics hit an all-time low under former CEO Dan Mattrick.
Zynga governance stated that the appointment of Gibeau was undertaken ‘organically’, with the board selecting an executive who knew about the company’s day to day operations. Gibeau will officially take up the leadership role on 7 March.
A twenty-year gaming veteran who has served in numerous executive positions for EA, Gibeau stated that he would be ‘deeply engaged’ in Zynga games development and operations.
Since its 2011 NASDAQ public offering, Zynga has lost circa S1 billion for its investors, with its share price falling from $15 high to today’s flat line $2.20 price.
On taking the leadership role, business analysts have detailed whether Gibeau is the man to turn around Zynga games and product portfolio which has seen daily average users (DAUs) drop from 25 million to 18 million in 2015.