Zynga hires Microsoft’s Mattrick as CEO

Zynga Inc. is hiring Don Mattrick, the former head of Microsoft Corp.’s entertainment division, as its new chief executive, seeking to reignite growth at the game developer.

Mr. Mattrick will succeed Mark Pincus, who will remain chairman of the board and chief product officer, Zynga said in a statement Monday. Mr. Mattrick, who will also join the board, will start July 8, the company said.

Mr. Mattrick faces the challenge of turning around Zynga, which is suffering amid rising competition from upstarts such as King.com as well as a shift toward gaming on handheld devices. His experience in the industry, which includes stints at Microsoft and Electronic Arts Inc., may help San Francisco-based Zynga find new lines of revenue outside of Facebook Inc., where it is losing users, according to Michael Hickey, an analyst at National Alliance Capital Markets.

“Don is a respected executive, and if he is considering a transition to Zynga, it does potentially demonstrate that he believes they have a compelling growth profile,” Denver-based Mr. Hickey said in an interview. “He also adds credibility to an executive team that has been significantly compromised after their core Facebook business has deteriorated.”

Shares of Zynga jumped as much as 13%, the biggest gain since April 3, after technology blog AllThingsD reported earlier today that Mr. Mattrick could take over the game developer. Zynga rose 10% to US$3.07 at the close in New York.

Mr. Mattrick resigned from Microsoft at the end of last week, said a person with knowledge of the matter.

Bing Gordon, the venture capitalist who led Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers’ 2008 investment in Zynga and serves as a close adviser to Mr. Pincus, was instrumental in Mr. Mattrick’s hiring, said another person.