Zynga cuts another 18 percent of jobs

Zynga is laying off 18 percent of its employees, according to its first quarterly report of this year. 364 employees will lose their jobs, which together with other measures should save 100 million dollars, 88 million euros. The company lost $46 million in the first quarter.

Zynga wants to focus on games in five categories, according to the first quarterly report of this year: action strategy games, social casino, invest & express, casual games and racing games. Zynga wants to release six to eight new mobile games this year, while also focusing on current successes. The company is known for Facebook games like FarmVille and Words with Friends.

Two years ago, Zynga also held a layoff that saw 18 percent of its workforce dismissed. Then there were 520 employees. The company has been in dire straits for a long time; the player numbers of his Facebook games have fallen sharply. In 2013, the number of daily active players fell by almost half, from 72 million to 39 million. In the first quarter of this year, there were still 25 million people who played a Zynga game every day. That is a slight decrease compared to the first quarter of last year. For the whole of 2014, Zynga made a loss of 226 million dollars, converted almost 200 million euros; the first quarter of this year, the loss was $46 million. Next quarter, Zynga expects the loss to be $50 million to $54 million.

A few weeks ago, Microsoft Xbox CEO Don Mattrick left the company after less than two years at the helm. Mattrick was hired as CEO in 2013 to help Zynga out of the doldrums, but he failed to do so. Co-founder Mark Pincus is now director of the company again.