As pretty much everyone knows, the once mighty Zynga has fallen on some seriously hard times, now that the social gaming bubble has officially burst.
But here's a new low: according to the Wall Street Journal, and as reported by Kotaku, CEO Mark Pincus recently met with a director on Apple's board, to discuss strategies on how to turn to ship around. And Pincus was feeling so discouraged and hopeless that he "nearly welled up" according to Bill Campbell, the aforementioned Apple board member.
The meeting took place in September, when things were already looking bleak. This was before a $52.7 million loss for the third quarter had been reported, before several key personal flew the coop, and before several other employees were fired in the most tacky manner possible (during Apple's iPad Mini unveil, in hopes that no one would notice, which didn't work).
It is also stated that one of the main reasons for such a tailspin was Zynga's failure to prioritize mobile development. Since the meeting, Pincus has made several smart moves, like merging mobile into every gaming studio he has. But it might be too little, too late at this point.
"Mark's challenge is how to make great games when his assets-his developers-are literally walking out the door."