Zynga closes three studios; consolidates NYC offices

Times they are a-changing for powerhouse developer Zynga, who brought us such mobile/social phenomenon as Draw Something and Words with Friends.  The gaming company has announced this morning a few internal changes that will be taking place within the business, including the closing of three studios in McKinney, downtown Austin, and Baltimore, and the consolidation of Zynga’s NYC offices.

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Times they are a-changing for powerhouse developer Zynga, who brought us such mobile/social phenomenon as Draw Something and Words with Friends.  The gaming company has announced this morning a few internal changes that will be taking place within the business, including the closing of three studios in McKinney, downtown Austin, and Baltimore, and the consolidation of Zynga’s NYC offices.

Naturally, with so many people involved, this wasn’t a decision that came easily. In a statement on the company blog, David Ko, chief financial officer at Zynga, described the business move as “an effort to leverage resources as we focus on creating franchises and driving profitability.” Ko went on to say that these changes will “further enable [Zynga] to focus our resources on our most strategic opportunities,” and the financial officer seems confident that the future for Zynga is bright.

Luckily for all those people at Zynga who worked on such high-profile games, Zynga claims they have been able to relocate most of their Baltimore employees who requested a transfer, and that the overall impact of the consolidations was very minimal to their team.

This isn’t the first time that Zynga made headlines for internal changes. This news comes on the heels of With Friends franchise co-creators Paul and David Bettner leaving the studio last fall, and Brian Reynolds’ announcement that he would be stepping down from his roll as the Baltimore studio head. Most recently, Zynga was forced to shut down the online services for its popular city-simulation game CityVille 2 earlier this month.

Let’s hope this change is really for the better, and that Zynga is able to work through these business shifts and get back to making more great games!