After being with the company for over three years, Brian Reynolds has bid adieu to Zynga. Reynolds served as chief game designer, and headed Zynga’s Baltimore studio, where he worked on games like FrontierVille and CityVille 2.
After being with the company for over three years, Brian Reynolds has bid adieu to Zynga. Reynolds served as chief game designer, and headed Zynga’s Baltimore studio, where he worked on games like FrontierVille and CityVille 2.
Reynolds took to Twitter late last night to confirm the departure, and he dispelled any concerns about bad blood between himself and the company by offering a hearty thanks to “all the great folks and teams” he worked with. Zynga’s president of games Steve Chiang also issued a statement on the matter, which reads as follows:
“Brian has a long history in the game industry and has been a great partner to the creative leaders at Zynga. I want to thank him for his leadership of the Zynga Baltimore studio in the design and development of FrontierVille, which brought many innovations to social gaming. We appreciate Brian’s contribution and we’re proud of the deep bench of creative leaders who are leading the next wave of game innovation at Zynga. We wish Brian the best in his next chapter.”
But despite how amicable this all may look, it’s the latest of many painful departures for Zynga. In just the last year they lost chief operating officer John Schappert, Words With Friends co-creators Paul and David Bettner, chief security officer Nils Puhlmann, and more. Needless to say, that’s a staggering turnover rate, and it’s hard not to be concerned by how many high-profile employees have parted ways.
All that said, it really does sound like Reynolds and Zynga remain on good terms. And while it’s unclear what Reynolds will be up to next, there’s little need to worry about whether or not he’ll land on his feet. He’s worked on games like Civilization 2 and Rise of Nations, after all. He’ll be just fine.
