John Schappert Sells The Farm And Leaves Zynga

The complaint filed by EA against Zynga on August 3, 2012 specifically mentioned that Zynga had access to proprietary and confidential information, that could have been obtained through the hiring of key former EA executives. These former EA executives include John Schappert, Jeff Karp and Barry Cottle.

Image courtesy allthingsd.com

There has been no official press release made by Zynga, as of yet, about John Schappert’s, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Zynga Inc, immediate resignation from Zynga.

It was just last year when Schappert was lured away from Electronic Arts Inc. with a pay package worth $42.8 million.

 

Form 8-K for ZYNGA INC

---

8-Aug-2012

Change in Directors or Principal Officers

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors;
Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

Departure of Directors or Certain Officers

On August 8, 2012, John Schappert, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Zynga Inc., a Delaware corporation (the "Company"), resigned from his positions as an officer and a director of the Company, effective immediately.

Prior to Mr. Schappert's resignation from the Company's Board of Directors (the "Board"), he was a member of the Mergers and Acquisitions Committee of the Board. Mr. Schappert's resignation from the Board was not tendered in connection with any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company's operations, policies or practices.

The Company noted that Mr. Schappert has made significant contributions to the games industry throughout his career and it appreciates all that he has done for the Company. The Company further noted that Mr. Schappert leaves as a friend of the Company and it wishes him all the best.

Courtesy http://biz.yahoo.com

The resignation of Schappert is being reported as a result of Schappert’s being stripped of certain responsibilities within Zynga. According to CNN Money “It is not believed that the recent EA lawsuit against Zynga played any role in Schappert's resignation.” The timing of Schappert’s resignation will, and already has, raise some eyebrows.

Zynga declined to say whether it's replacing Schappert.

Therapy Anyone?: Psychology Crates Coming Soon

Psychology 101…Psychology Crates Are Coming Soon.

We were informed that these crates would soon make it into the the game when the winner of the ‘Design Mafia Wars Crates’ contest winner was announced.

Pinkfrog

Super Moderator

Winners for ‘Design Mafia Wars Crates’ Contest!

Hello Mobsters,
Thank you all for participating in the ‘Design Mafia Wars Crates’ contest. We received some very interesting and creative entries. We opened up the voting to community to choose the best crate theme from the shortlisted entries and we have our winner!
The winner for the first place is warm1978 for Psychology Crates and has won himself 250 RPs!
This is what the Psychology crate will include according to warm1978:
Thorazine Syringe (weapon)
Suicide Razor Blade (weapon)
Psychologist or Psychiatrist (henchman)
Group of Orderlies (henchman)
Therapy Dog (animal)
Hypnotist's Medallion (armor)
Psychiatrist Couch (armor)
Suicide Note (armor)
Restraint Bed (vehicle)
Padded Ambulance (vehicle)
We also have our runner up - Auntie Emu for Political Crates and has won 100 RPs!
Congratulations to our winners. Our winning crate, the Psychology Crate will be included in the game soon!
The winners will be contacted by the Mafia Wars teams and will receive their prize.
Keep Playing Mafia Wars.
The Mafia Wars Team

And here are the images of the winning loot items that will make it into the game.

There are usually 8 items in the crates that you could acquire when you purchase them. Apparently Zynga don’t feel their dog is therapeutic. Unless we can discover what the eighth mysterious item is we’ll have to wait until the Psychology Crates are released.

Lessons on How to be a Boss in Mafia Wars!

Do you have what it takes to create a masterpiece? If you do then Zynga has a contest for you. Zynga is asking for players to submit video tutorials about how to play Mafia Wars. Here is a reprint of the rules and guidelines for this contest;

Lessons on How to be a Boss in Mafia Wars!

Mobsters,
We have a new contest for you!
If you are the Boss of Mafia Wars and if you feel you know it all, here’s what you have to do to earn exciting prizes while using this opportunity to help other players.
All entries must be posted by August 21, 2012 11:59 PM PST.

RULES
• Make 7-10 minute YouTube tutorial video that explains the most important features in Mafia Wars. The video should cover the following features.
-Jobs
-Fights
-Properties
-Secret Districts
-Mission Events
-Family Battles and Properties
• You will need to upload the video on YouTube in .AVI format. Once you upload your video, you will need to submit your link herehttp://zynga.tm/o73 by August 21, 2012 11:59 PM PST.
• Make sure your video is of minimum 1280x 720 resolution for high quality YouTube upload. You can learn more about the YouTube Do’s and Don’ts here.
• No discussions about the contest will be allowed on this thread. To discuss this contest, please visit the DISCUSSION THREAD.

• See the Official Rules.
HOW TO ENTER
After you create a tutorial video, upload it to your YouTube account. Make sure you set the privacy setting for this video as “Public” on YouTube so that we can easily view the video. Once it is uploaded on YouTube, copy the url and paste it over here http://zynga.tm/o73 after which you are an official participant for this contest.
PRIZES
• First Place: 1000 RP
• Second Place: 700 RP
• Third Place: 300 RP
JUDGMENT CRITERIA:
A total of 200 points is possible; points will be awarded based on the following criteria:
• Video must cover all the listed features mentioned under the RULES: Up to 60 points
• Video must be in the required format and resolution: Up to 50 points
• Most effective and creative way to explain the feature: Up to 50 points
• Maintain the time limit: Up to to 40 points
The Creative Team of Mafia Wars will select the top 3 entries based on the above criteria. The content of these winning videos may be used fully or partially by the Mafia Wars team to create an official tutorial video and publish it on our blogs, forums and other official channels.
We will announce the winners on the forums by their forum handle. Winners will receive a Private Message from a member of the Mafia Wars Community Team. Players must provide their Facebook User ID via Private Message for prize awarding process.

Let the legacy of your mafia live on!
Good Luck!
-The Mafia War Team

They forgot to mention a key factor and that is to shutoff your scripts before you make your video even though the scripts are used by most players to play Mafia Wars in today’s game.

This is something that Zynga should have already created themselves but it will be nice to see a tutorial that will be created by real players of the game. Let’s just hope that the winning video will show how this game can be played without the purchasing of thousands of RP’s.

Zynga Under Fire

It is well known that the biggest developer of games played on Facebook is Zynga. Since it’s IPO Zynga has seen a lower demand for the virtual goods it sells in online games resulting in a shortfall of the companies quarterly forecasts. The result has been a sharp decline in the price quotes of the Zynga (ZNGA) stocks which are currently about 72 percent lower than its December IPO of $10 per share.

Zynga, in addition to developing games, has also developed a bad reputation of copycatting games produced by other companies. Zynga has had to answer questions before about the company allegedly (loosely stated) copycatting other companies games.

Talking Copycats with Zynga's Design Chief by Kris Graft January 31, 2012 From your perspective, what are you seeing lately in these “copycat” reports and what’s your take on that overall? Brian Reynolds: “So when there’s a new genre or a new thing, then everybody gets their game in. And the main thing for us, our goal is to have the highest-quality thing. Obviously it’s competitive, and we may not always end up being the one to have the best thing in every space, but we certainly try to.” Should social game makers, if they make a successful, innovative game, should they just expect to get copied? BR: “I don’t know if they should expect to get copied. They should certainly expect to get competed with.” Right. Well for some people that’s one and the same, Brian. Or at least they go hand in hand. BR: “Well those developers will probably not be the people who are successful, to be clear. I don’t know if you remember Rise of Nations.”

Image Courtesy wikipedia.org February 2, 2012 Zynga’s Brian Reynolds Joins Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences’ Board of Directors A twenty-one-year industry veteran, Brian Reynolds is recognized as one of the industry's most talented and productive game designers. Honored by PC Gamer magazine as one of twenty-five "Game Gods" and one of IGN’s “Top 100 Game Creators of All Time,”

 

Mark Pincus essentially admitted to what Zynga’s business model is when Zynga’s CEO Mark Pincus once wrote an internal memo that stated; “I don’t f***ing want innovation. “You’re not smarter than your competitor. Just copy what they do and do it until you get their numbers.”

Once again Mark Pincus essentially admitted to Zynga’s copyrighting practices in another memo when he stated; “Google didn’t create the first search engine. Apple didn’t create the first mp3 player or tablet. And, Facebook didn’t create the first social network. But these companies have evolved products and categories in revolutionary ways. They are all internet treasures because they all have specific and broad missions to change the world.

We don’t need to be first to market. We need to be the best in market. There are genres that we’re going to enter because we know our players are interested in them and because we want and need to be where players are. We evolve genres by making games free, social, accessible and highest quality.”

Zynga has shown time and again that the developers and upper management lack in their own creativity. The list of games that are borrowed ideas from other companies include is long;  

Mafia Wars from Mob Wars

FarmVille from Farm Town

Cafe World from Restaurant City

 

CityVille from Social City

 

 

Hidden Chronicles from Gaedens Of Time

 

Pioneer Trail from The Oregon Trail

 

PetVille from Pet Society

 

Tiny Tower and Dream Heights

 

And now there is The Ville which is an idea borrowed from The Sims Social.

Since it’s release The Ville has become the #1 application on Facebook.

“The Sims” titles have sold more than 150 million units since it was first published more than a decade ago. It is said that The Sims Social has generated more than $50 million in revenue for EA since its launch last summer. Thus making the game a prime target for Zynga to duplicate.   

EA says enough is enough. Here is a copy of the complaint filed by EA against Zynga;

EA v Zynga Complaint Final

What do you think? Can you see the difference between The Ville and The Sims Social?