Zynga-Japan
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Zynga Japan closing
As was originally suggested by Zynga CEO Mark Pincus back in October, Zynga Japan will be closing its doors as part of a company wide "Cost Reduction Plan" this January. The decision was made official by an announcement on Zynga Japan CEO Kenji Matsubara's Facebook profile, where he thanked users for playing his company's games. Three of Zynga Japan's games have already been discontinued: City builder Machitsuku, Scrabble clone Mojitomo and monster training RPG Montopia. Zynga Japan's mobile card battling game Ayakashi (available in the US as Ayakashi: Ghost Guild) will continue to operate beyond the developer's official closure at the end of January, 2013.Other branches affected by the Cost Reduction Plan include Zynga Austin, which suffered a significant reduction in staff, along with Zynga Boston, which was closed entirely.
Former Koei boss to head up Zynga Japan
Ex-Tecmo Koei head Kenji Matsubara is sheathing his sword on console gaming and headed for FarmVille, as the Japanese executive has been announced as the new CEO of Zynga Japan. After stepping down from Tecmo late last year citing "personal reasons," the Japanese game industry vet had yet to reveal his plans ... until Zynga Japan's announcement this week. "I am very pleased with the inauguration of Kenji Matsubara and his talent," current Zynga Japan head Robert Goldberg said in the company's press release. Goldberg will stay on as CEO until May 9, when Matsubara will be passed the company torch -- Goldberg will then take up a consulting role to the new CEO. And yes, as far as we can tell, that is kind of like getting paid the same to do less and have less responsibility. Hats off to you, Mr. Goldberg!
