Great Zynga Exodus of 2012 continues: CTO of infrastructure bails

The greatest (as in size) company in social gaming is in the middle of the greatest talent loss in the games world--perhaps the tech world--of 2012. (It should be noted, however, that EA may come in a close second, thanks to Zynga and companies like it.) Next in line to say "buh-bye" to the FarmVille maker is CTO of infrastructure Alex Leinwand, according to a Forbes report.

Forbes points to a change in the Zynga executive's LinkedIn profile as evidence of his departure. Leinwand joins a number of the social game giant's losses, including former COO John Schappert, CityVille GM Alan Patmore and CCO Mike Verdu. The news comes just as Zynga launches its most anticipated social game of the year, FarmVille 2, no less.

As Forbes points out, you could chalk up this monumental change-up to the fact that, before the company went public in 2011, it enticed new hires to join with (potentially) lucrative stock options. But as Zynga stock dried up to its current asking price of $2.83 (as of this writing), these high-level staffers didn't have much reason to stay around.

Despite the restructuring, Forbes suggests that the shake-up could actually help the social game maker in the long run. With the lot of employees from the world of core social games out of the picture, Zynga will be left with a force dedicated to social games. It's certainly a thought, but if you ask this writer, perhaps the company should focus on its publishing platform more, leave the bulk of game development to those it signs on, and focus on reviving its core franchises like, say, FarmVille 2? We've contacted Zynga for comment.

[Via Inside Social Games]

[Image Credit: VentureBeat]

Are you shocked to see yet another executive leave Zynga? What do you think of the company these days? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.