Report: Don Mattrick Leaving Microsoft for...Zynga? [UPDATE: It's Official]

I feel you.

Poor Zynga...

Oh wait.

GEE! I WONDER WHY HE'S BEE FIRED OFFERED A BETTER JOB SOMEWHERE ELSE. What a prick. Good riddance.

This did not happen because of E3, it was in the works well before.

Seems like a perfect fit!

Now he won't get into trouble for giving stupid answers regarding always-on DRM...

Probably, I doubt Mattrick and Zynga would sign something in less than a month.

Then again, I doubt Microsoft is going to be happy: considering everything after the Xbox One reveal, this is less a "gracious exit for better opportunities" and more "a disgruntled employee smearing his boss' desk with poop and leaving his resignation letter".

Don Mattrick's first letter to Zynga employees.

This sounds kinda funny to me:

Only Zynga combines engineering, industry-leading product management and analytics to deliver products that strike a chord with consumers and add real value in their lives.

And will be missed by absolutely no one.

So who is heading the XBOX division now? This is just going all sorts of wrong for Microsoft.

This is too freaking weird. Especially at a time like this.

Never did like Microsoft's policies or the way they looked at their consumer base, but this little rat bastard was at the top of the shit list. So glad he gets knocked down a peg. Hope Zynga goes bottom up fast and he gets what he deserves.

I wonder if he left or if he got fired, hmm... man there are so many possibilities, he could've made the DRM thing or he could've been the one that wanted to remove it, did he think the xbox one was stupid and just left before it was released? did he get an enormous amount of money from Zynga? guess maybe we'll know or not.

I wish Ballmer wasn't too high up to take his spot. How do you counter Jack Tretton? With a raving nutjob who would charge the stage during Sony's conference and TEAR HIS FUCKING THROAT OUT.

Doubt Allard will be even close to there though. If I remember correctly when Allard left there was a lot of talk that it was because he was often at odds with Ballmer.

I don't even..

Pachter guessed he would go to EA after the XBO release. Aren't they still in need of a CEO or did they hire someone?

Microsoft it totally a fad, makes sense to move to a good stable company like Zynga.

Holy shit Mattrick, you are on a ROLL with those poor decisions...

I'm surprised anyone wants him in an executive position after the colossal failure of the One announcement.

Microsoft is all in a shuffle these days.

...

no wonder matrick was sounding like a complete asshole he simply stopped caring he was leaving.

Right. Jump off a boat with a whole in it to board a boat that is already 4/5 submerged.

In other words...

the plot thickens...

Hahahaha, WHAT!? Say what you will about the XB1, but it sure is leading to a lot of entertaining news.

You know, the logical progression.

Colossal failures are a vital part of Zynga's portfolio so this move makes sense.

I honestly can't stop laughing. The guy was a horrible CEO. Imagine telling people to get their older console rather than their new one, Jesus Christ this guy obviously can't into marketing.

Going from Xbone to a company that kills off and completely wipes some of their games from the face of the Internet and tells the people foolish enough to waste money on them to "fuck off" what a match made in heaven!

Get to the choppaaaa!!!!

Man, those pre-sale numbers must be really below expectations.

Oh Microsoft.

heh

Farmville now requires you to have a webcam in use the whole time.

I wonder if this will affect EA's CEO search. Insider scuttlebutt put Mattrick as the man that would take the CEO spot after the Xbox One launched.

Yeah. That company's been circling since their IPO, it's like they and Mattrick were made for one another.

Oh yeah, I'm sure this was totally his decision. Yep.

It...

I...

This...and then last week...I can't--

WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!

So the guy who ruined Microsoft is going to one of the shittiest game studios there is. Not all that surprising, actually.

Ok

Well I called the part where the guy was going to get the boot but I never would have guessed that Zynga would be his next "step". Fantastic.

@cubical said:

Good I saw this coming xbox started to suck when he took over back in 2010 or what ever it has been going downhill until we got to the new xbox crap. He don't know what people want. the xbox one in design and everything else was his final screw up.

That kinect crap mostly started under his control.

the xbox one design sucks balls and all this happend under his watch and direction.

Bring back J allard and peter moore!

J allard is the real deal that is why xbox 360 and the 1st xbox ruled and you could get the fucking oddworld games on the machine back then.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-06-13-right-now-oddworld-new-n-tasty-isnt-coming-to-xbox-one-or-xbox-360

Loading Video...

Loading Video...

That is how you make and launch a fucking game console.

None of the stuff you linked was particularly impressive...

Next to Don Mattrick, yeah, it kinda is.

That said, it became pretty clear that J Allard had moved on to the Zune as his passion project pretty soon after the 360 launch.

Makes me wonder where he is now...

@cubical said:

Good I saw this coming xbox started to suck when he took over back in 2010 or what ever it has been going downhill until we got to the new xbox crap. He don't know what people want. the xbox one in design and everything else was his final screw up.

That kinect crap mostly started under his control.

the xbox one design sucks balls and all this happend under his watch and direction.

Bring back J allard and peter moore!

J allard is the real deal that is why xbox 360 and the 1st xbox ruled and you could get the fucking oddworld games on the machine back then.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-06-13-right-now-oddworld-new-n-tasty-isnt-coming-to-xbox-one-or-xbox-360

Loading Video...

Loading Video...

That is how you make and launch a fucking game console.

LOL love the always connected, always hi-def, & always personalized...... you know when you think about it not much is going to change this gen they could've did the reveal beat for beat like this and had bruno mars perform and everyone would be licking the xbox one's boot right now, amazing what presentation could do.....

So the future is brighter at Zynga than at Microsoft...?

Xbox One is already dead I guess.

@djou: Please tell me your joking??? Don was the head of the Xbox division not the whole of MS. Do a little reasearch on Google...

Also Don was a walking PR nightmare. Everything out of his mouth was condensing, arrogant, and offensive. If MS wasn't going to fire him outright he was going to be stuck in a very dark corner far away from the media spotlight.

@maddman60620: I think the thing is that he was trying to make keeping your Xbox 360 hooked up look enticing, rather than turning it into a mandate the way Mattrick was going for. Basically more pimping Gold and less Big Brother.

Good riddance. After taking over from Peter Moore, and destroying everything Moore had created with the 360 by moving focus to kinect, avatars, and apps, while killing off every good 1st party developer MS had that weren't profitable enough, he then sets everything in stone for the Xbox One to be the exact opposite of everything the Xbox 360 stood for, with its increased focus on TV and less than stellar hardware specs that obviously did not have the gamer or developer in mind ...... now he leaves.

Unfortunately, the damage is done and too many things are set in stone, but hopefully this leaves the door open for another great exec like a Peter Moore to take over and begin to turn things back around. Maybe in time for the next console release.

This is getting weird.