It's been a short, but wild, ride for Zynga New York head Dan Porter. The CEO of the studio formerly known as OMGPOP has left the FarmVille maker just a year after his company was acquired by Zynga for $180 million, TechCrunch reports. The news comes just before the sequel to OMGPOP's biggest hit, Draw Something, is to land. In fact, the awaited installment is already live in Sweden (for 22,00 krona, mind you)."Developing and launching games is a team effort, and we're proud of the great work the Zynga New York team has done with Draw Something 2," Zynga COO David Ko said in a statement to TechCrunch. "Our follow up to the original hit is even more social and engaging, and we're excited to get it into the hands of our players globally. We thank Dan Porter for his efforts in making the Draw Something franchise a success and wish him well in his future endeavors."
This is likely the result of some rather colorful comments Porter made recently during a talk, which he apologized for publicly on Zynga's corporate blog weeks ago. According to TechCrunch, CEO Mark Pincus demanded that Porter apologize or be fired, which he did, but it seems that his actions revealed a cultural divide between the two executives, and thus Porter's departure. In Porter's place will reside Zynga GM Sean Uberoi Kelly, VP of mobile and former CityVille team leader.
Of course, Draw Something 2 will march on into your smartphones and tablets soon enough without Porter. Based on the game's info page on the iOS App Store, Zynga has ramped up the social elements, essentially turning Draw Something 2 into a game-meets-social-network. Don't you wish you were in Sweden?
Learn more about Draw Something 2 here >
Are you worried about Draw Something 2 now that Porter is out? What do you think this says about Zynga? Add Comment.
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