Zynga has announced the departures of three top executives as new chief executive officer Don Mattrick continues to restructure the social gaming company. According to the Forbes.com business news website, chief operating officer David Ko, chief technology officer Cadir Lee and chief people officer Colleen McCreary are leaving the company. Mattrick said in a statement that the changes are being made in order to move senior executives closer to operations. “We are taking layers out of the executive rank to get senior leaders closer to important product initiatives,” Mattrick said. “With that in mind, I have asked the leaders to…

In its Q2 earnings report earlier this week, Zynga said it has abandoned its plans to pursue real money gambling in the U.S. But Nevada-based IGT, which makes both physical and virtual casino games, said its plans are unaffected. “What Zynga’s finding out is that breaking into real-currency wagers is a difficult thing,” said executive VP Robert Melendres, who heads IGT’s interactive division. “They built their business as more of a causal social gaming business. We are well situated to take advantage of [real money], just as we’ve done in Europe.” Melendres’s goal is “convergence”: Bringing the experience someone might…

From VG 24/7 – Zynga’s vice president of revenue operations Ryan Linton has left the company to join UK gambling start-up Betable as its new chief revenue officer. It’s a company that offer solutions to developers who want real-money gambling in their games. In a statement on the matter, Linton wrote, “There are very few companies that can claim to have created a truly disruptive business model. Betable is one of those companies. “The significance of providing developers with the ability to overcome a tremendous barrier to entry, while at the same time giving them the power to offer real-money…

In today’s Sportsbook Review.com SBR iGaming News video, a news update is given on social gaming provider Zynga joining forces with mobile loyalty and advertising company SessionM is covered. The two will collaborate on a new in-game real world rewards platform. Also mentioned are two industry related developments with well known online sportsbooks. Zynga’s partnership with SessionM will see the two offer “mPoints” to Scramble With Friends players, which can be used to attain in-game enhancements. The points carry a real-world value that could net a player anything from iTunes or Amazon gift cards, as well as free entry into…

From iGaming Business – Social game firm Zynga and toy company Hasbro have unveiled the latest instalment of a partnership that combines toys and social gaming. Venturebeat.com reports Hasbro is working on a CityVille Invasion line of Kre-O block-building toys while Zynga has launched a Kre-O CityVille Invasion app. The idea behind the initiative is for gamers to build and defend their own cities in the app, while they can bring the game to live by constructing buildings using Kre-O – a rival to Lego. The Zynga-Hasbro toys will be available from August 1. The combination is another in a…

From iGaming Business Social gaming services provider Zynga is set to unveil its new real-money gambling games today at an event in Barcelona, Spain. According to Venturebeat.com, the launch is the latest move from Zynga as part of its strategic growth strategy to expand into social networking website Facebook and the mobile gaming games market. Sean Ryan, head of game partnerships at Facebook, will launch the new Facebook titles for Zynga at today’s event. The games include ZyngaPlusPoker and ZyngaPlusCasino; gambling versions of Zynga’s social games produced in partnership with British real-money online gambling company Bwin.party. Both games will be…