FarmVille Creator Quits Zynga

After losing its CEO Don Mattrick earlier in the year, the creator of FarmVille, Mark Skaggs has left Zynga.

According to an email received by GamesBeat, CEO Mark Pincus confirmed that Skaggs was indeed leaving the company and thanked him for his years of service.

"He's going to spend some time with his family before determining what his next adventure will be," said Pincus. "We thank Mark for his leadership and contributions to Zynga over the years across a range of games, including FarmVille, CityVille and most recently into the action strategy category with Empires & Allies."

At its peak, FarmVille got as many as 32 million daily active users. Skaggs was also responsible for other games at Zynga such as CityVille, The Ville, and Treasure Isle. Prior to this he worked on Command & Conquer Generals, Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth, and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 among others at Electronic Arts (EA). The company described the departure as amicable.

(Also see: Top 5 Strategy Games You Have to Play)

After a poor fiscal year, Zynga is looking to bounce back. A part of doing so involved the acquisition of social casino studio Rising Tide Games. A month ago, longtime EA executive Frank Gibeau joined Zynga's board.

With Zynga looking to pivot from social to mobile games, attrition is to be expected. But with the company steadily haemorrhaging top talent, how soon before a sense of normalcy is established remains to be seen.