Don Mattrick breaks up with Xbox, enters an affair with Zynga

Talk about jumping from one sinking ship to another, former Microsoft President of the Interactive Business Don Mattrick recently was named the CEO for internet gaming company, Zynga. Mattrick's departure from Microsoft comes immediately after the scrutiny that faced the Xbox One, resulting in the company backtracking from all of the proposed, pro-DRM/anti-consumer features the gaming console was set to implement. Announced earlier today was Mattrick's replacement, Julie Larson-Green, who is currently acting as the Corporate Vice President of Windows.

Of course, Mattrick might be facing a different kind of problem as Zynga is currently facing its own problems as the once-popular gaming company is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. As the new incoming CEO of Zynga, he will be replacing Zynga founder Mark Pincus, who himself will be stepping down to become a chairman for the company. It'll be interesting to see if Mattrick's past successes with the Xbox (Xbox One shenanigans notwithstanding) can carry over to a vastly different platform. Wall Street at least has faith in Mattrick's influence, as stock for the company closed at a 10% increase.

Mattrick must really thrive on facing problems. It's too early to expect much from Zynga this early in their new direction, but considering the whole online/Facebook gaming fad has all but passed, I don't foresee Mattrick's attachment being enough to bring Zynga back to the level it was at previously.

[via Eurogamer, USA Today]