Thinks aren’t looking good for Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA). The company laid off many of their employees on Monday and now there is a report that Zynga shuttered OMGPOP, a company they acquired after purchasing it for $200 million.
Ali Nicholas (former vice president of people) tweeted, “I learned via Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) I was laid off today and @OMGPOP office is closed. Thanks @zynga for again reminding me how not to operate a business.”
The former Senior Community Manager Joseph Alminawi added, “Thanks for the concern everyone. Yep, I’ve been laid off (along with most of the studio). I’ll share more details soon after I do my exit…”
OMGPOP Was Acquired By Zynga Last Year:
OMGPOP confirmed the news with the following tweet, “While this is the last day at @zynga for many @omgpop staff, we want to thank you for all love and awesomeness over the years!”
OMGPOP was acquired by Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) last year during the height of their popularity thanks to games like Draw Something, which is essentially a mobile app version of Pictionary. When Zynga published the update and changed the game’s logo, the game’s popularity had waned by then.
The reason behind OMGPOP’s closure isn’t known quite yet, but there is still much to speculate. It seems that the two companies never found a way to get along from day one, when Dan Porter (former OMGPOP chief executive officer) made a comment that might had been taken out of context as he said Zynga has no problem copying competitor games.
As a leader in social media-based and mobile games, Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) has been struggling. The recent mass layoff just shows that the company is over their head financially and they needed to make some significant changes if they want to increase their bottom line. As for the future of OMGPOP, nothing is quite clear. They could keep the online gaming portal or they could merge it into their brand.
