Zynga COO no longer head of games, takes some blame for games slump

Former Microsoft corporate VP of LIVE and ex-EA COO John Schappert is no longer in charge of games at Zynga, as the mobile and social gaming company reshuffles its senior staff in an effort to counter a disappointing second quarter.

Schappert was tasked with overseeing game development prior to the change. He will remain with Zynga, but his responsibilities have shifted as he takes partial blame for the company's poor performance in gaming.

A Zynga spokesperson commented on their efforts to recover, which sees greater emphasis on mobile integration and less reliance on Facebook:

"We can confirm that in order to unify our company around a multiplatform approach, we reorganized our teams in July to integrate web and mobile groups. Our players expect their favorite games on every platform and we want to unlock everyone in the company to continue moving quickly against the multi platform opportunity."

Industry giant Zynga has been experiencing disappointing growth in games. One of the bigger occurrences revolves around Draw Something and its drop in popularity following the Zynga buyout, though the game's fall from favor isn't directly linked to the acquisition.

Thanks for the heads up, tekmosis.