I think Zynga learned its lesson about studio closures after it tried to sneakily layoff over 100 employees during an Apple event. Now the company is being more open about its closures and layoffs with the latest round affecting many of its operations around the country.
Zynga COO David Ko announced today that the company would be closing or consolidating a number of studios around the country to cut costs and remain profitable. The good news is that hardly anybody is losing their jobs this time around as Zynga is only closing studios, not actually letting go of people.
The big news, of course, is that Zynga Baltimore is no more. The studio will be closed, and the employees that requested a transfer will be able to relocate to another one of Zynga’s studios. It’s not said what became of those who didn’t relocate, but Zynga says the “overall impact of the consolidations on our team is minimal.”
Speaking of consolidation, Zynga also closed its McKinney, Texas, downtown Austin and NYC offices. Team members in these offices will be moved to Zynga’s existing offices in Dallas, North Austin and NYC mobile studio respectively.
Besides closing down studios, Zynga has also shut down a number of games. The latest casualties included CityVille 2, The Friend Game and Party Place. Games like FarmVille 2 and its mobile gambling titles continue to bring in revenue. Future games from the company will probably focus more on simulated gambling going forward, but the company will also be investing in mid-core titles.