Zynga kills real-money gambling plans amid Q2 financial losses

Zynga has announced its second-quarter financial results for the three-month period ending on June 30, revealing a 31 percent drop in year-over-year earnings. The company reports a $16 million net loss for the second quarter of 2013, with quarterly revenue totaling $231 million.

"The next few years will be a time of phenomenal growth in our space and Zynga has incredible assets to take advantage of the market opportunity," said Zynga's newly appointed CEO Don Mattrick. "To do that, we need to get back to basics and take a longer term view on our products and business, develop more efficient processes and tighten up execution all across the company."

Mattrick continued: "We have a lot of hard work in front of us and as we reset, we expect to see more volatility in our business than we would like over the next two to four quarters."

Follwing the release of this quarter's financial results, Zynga announced that it had dropped its plans to build a real-money online gambling business, which was originally set to launch this year.

"Zynga is making the focused choice not to pursue a license for real money gaming in the United States," the company said in a statement. "Zynga will continue to evaluate all of its priorities against the growing market opportunity in free, social gaming, including social casino offerings."

Zynga laid off 18 percent of its workforce in June, resulting in the closure of its studios in Los Angeles, New York, Austin, and Dallas.