Zynga is currently facing a number of high profile exits with Farmville co-creator Mark Skaggs parting ways with the studio first and now the news is that CFO David Lee is stepping down from his post. In the interim chief accounting officer Michelle Quejado will be the acting CFO.
Lee, who joined the company from Best Buy in April last year, will leave the gaming company in December.
Zynga in its earnings report also said that it would delay the launch of its two games Dawn of Titans and CSR2 to 2016 from the fourth quarter as planned earlier.
The company broke even on the revenue posting $176 million as its third-quarter results have slightly topped analyst expectations. Analysts had predicted revenue to decline 3 per cent year on year to $170 million, according to consensus estimates by Thomson Reuters.
However, the company forecast bookings of $165 million-$180 million for the current quarter are well below analysts’ expectations of $193.9 million.
Zynga’s revenue rose 10.8 per cent to $195.7 million in the quarter ended September 30, helped by the success of games such as Wizard of Oz Slots and Words With Friends.
However, it wasn’t all good news for Zynga, as daily active users fell 21 per cent to 19 million, while monthly active users dropped by 27 per cent, falling to 75 million during the quarter.
With the initial success with the games like Farmville and Word With Friends, the company has struggled to adapt changing mobile game ecosystem and fierce competition from newer rivals such as King Digital Entertainment and Glu Mobile.
“Developing new sustainable growth continues to be challenging and unpredictable,” Zynga said in a letter to shareholders on Tuesday.
Founder Mark Pincus, who returned as chief executive this year, has been focusing on cutting costs and reducing Zynga’s slate of games.
The delay in the launch of the two games brings down the number of launches this year to five, with Princess Bride Slots expected to be released in the current quarter. The company had earlier said it planned to launch six-eight mobile games in 2015.
“I believe Zynga is in a much stronger position today than it was when I joined the company, and I want to thank [founder and CEO] Mark [Pincus] for his partnership. We’ve moved the majority of our business to mobile and are focused on growing our new IP and existing franchises, while significantly reducing our cost structure,” Lee said in a statement.
With the latest developments of Activision Blizzard’s acquisition of King Digital for $5.9 billion to expand its mobile games push, the mobile gaming is now hot.
It posted a profit of $3.1 million, or breakeven per share, compared with a year-earlier loss. Zynga also said it would buy back up to $200 million in shares.
Zynga’s shares were up slightly at $2.48 in extended trading on Tuesday, after closing 2.5 percent higher after news of the Activision deal.