Pincus returns to lead embattled Zynga

Mark Pincus is coming back to the farm— and investors are running for the hills.

The moptopped founder of Zynga, the videogame giant that created Farmville, saidWednesday hewas retaking the chief executive role less than twoyears after steppingdown.

The news sent Zynga shares tumbling 10 percent, to $ 2.61, in aftermarket trading, asWall Street fretted over Pincus’s reputation as a prickly micromanager who had left employee morale in tatters.

Pincus, whose early success with a desktop Facebookbased Farmville flamed out amid a mobilegaming craze, is taking back the reins from DonMattrick.

Mattrick replacedPincus in July 2013 after leading Microsoft’s Xbox business. Mattrick is credited with training Zynga’s focus on the fastgrowing mobile gaming sector — an exploding nichewhose massive growth potential had been ignored byPincus, according tocritics.

InaWednesdaymemotoemployees, Pincus praised Mattrick’s progress on that front, noting that mobile was 60 percent of Zynga’s business at Dec. 31, versusjust27percentwhenPincusleft.

Nevertheless, financial results have remained dismal. Revenue last year was $ 690 million, down nearly half from $ 1.28 billion in 2012. Its loss rose to $ 226 million last year from $ 209 million three years ago.

Pincus signaled that he aims to once again focusonusing social networks to expand the customer base for upcoming games, including Empires& Allies andDawnofTitans.

“Don joined us at a very important time in our evolution,” Pincus wrote. “Now that we are a mobilefirst company, it’stimetorenewourfocusonour vision to make play and social games a massmarket activity.”