OMGPOP to Pierce: That's fine, we were gonna fire you anyway [Report]

When Shay Pierce (pictured) came at Zynga in a refreshingly frank op-ed about his reasons for turning down the acquisition offer, Zynga wasn't very happy about that. That's to be expected, but neither was OMGPOP, the New York-based that created wild mobile hit Draw Something. A nameless source within the company told Business Insider that OMGPOP was going to fire Pierce anyway.

"He frequently took long lunches, his coding was poor, and right before his team was about to release our new Facebook game, Streets, he took off for a week to promote his own game at the GDC conference," the source told Business Insider. According to BI, the sourced added that this was while Pierce's team was working late nights prior to the launch.

As anyone would expect of nearly anybody, Pierce denies the claims, of course, saying that he sensed no indication that he was "about to be let go," BI reports. The designer also denies claims that he went to GDC to promote his own game: "Pierce attended for "professional development because I am passionate about improving my craft as a developer," he told BI.

The source even goes so far as to claim that Pierce attempted to wrongly take credit for the success of Draw Something. And while this has been allegedly going on, Draw Something has reportedly stopped growing, BI has pointed out. Since March 26, the app has failed to keep pace and take on more daily players. For the past four days, its growth curve has stagnated, according to AppData. When it rains it pours.

[Image Credit: Twitter]

Are you surprised by how both OMGPOP and Pierce are handling this situation? Is Draw Something headed for its first decline? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.