Xbox One boss Don Mattrick reportedly stepping down at Microsoft, moving to Zynga

Written by Brandon Hofer on July 01, 2013

Xbox One News: Don Mattrick, the president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Unit, is rumored to be leaving Microsoft to pursue other opportunities.

Don Mattrick leaving Microsoft; Xbox One

UPDATE: Zynga has confirmed that Don Mattrick is their new CEO. The press release is below:

SAN FRANCISCO, July 1, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zynga Inc.
(Nasdaq:ZNGA), a leading provider of social game services, today
announced that the Company has appointed Don Mattrick as Chief
Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, effective
July 8, 2013. Mattrick has been at the forefront of the industry and
brings more than 30 years of executive experience developing, building
and managing profitable entertainment businesses. Mark Pincus, Zynga's
founding chief executive officer, remains Chairman of the Board of
Directors and Chief Product Officer of the Company.

"Don is unique in the game business," said Mark Pincus, Founder,
Chairman and Chief Product Officer. "He can execute in multiple domains
-- hardware, software and network, and he's been the person responsible
for game franchises like 'Need for Speed,' 'FIFA' and 'The Sims.' He's
one of the top executives in the overall entertainment business and
he's a great coach who has inspired people to do their best work and
build strong, productive teams. He deeply understands the value of a
network and the importance of creating lifelong consumer relationships.
He turned Xbox into the world's largest console-gaming network, growing its installed base from 10 to 80 million and transformed that business from deep losses to substantial profits. And he has grown the Xbox Live player network from 6 to 50 million active members in 41 countries. Going forward, I'll continue in my role as Chairman and Chief Product Officer. I'm excited to partner with Don and the rest of our team to return Zynga to its leadership role in inventing and growing Play as a core human experience."

"In its short history, Zynga has redefined entertainment and brought
social gaming to the mainstream. More than 1 billion people across web
and mobile have installed Zynga games, and franchises like FarmVille
and Words With Friends have become a part of people's daily lives,"
said Mattrick. "I joined Zynga because I believe that Mark's pioneering
vision and mission to connect the world through games is just getting
started. Zynga is a great business that has yet to realize its full
potential. I'm proud to partner with Mark to deliver high-quality, fun,
social games wherever people want to play."

Mattrick, 49, spent six years at Microsoft -- the last three as president of the Interactive Entertainment Business. In that role, he was responsible for the team that grew Microsoft's Xbox 360 global
installed base by 700 percent to more than 75 million consoles. During
his six-year tenure at Microsoft, Mattrick also oversaw businesses and
services focused on consumer products that included the groundbreaking
Kinect entertainment products and PC and mobile interactive entertainment.

Mattrick served as the president of Worldwide Studios at Electronic
Arts. During his 15-year career at Electronic Arts, Mattrick helped
develop and scale the company's leading global game franchises and
brands including "Need for Speed," "FIFA" and "The Sims." At age 17,
Mattrick founded his first company, Distinctive Software, which was
acquired by Electronic Arts in 1991.

"Mark took the lead in working with the entire board to recruit Don to
Zynga," said John Doerr, Member of the Zynga Board of Directors and
General Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. "All of us at
Zynga -- and no one more than Mark -- are thrilled Don is joining our
mission to connect the world through games. This is a win for the
people who play our games, the talented employees who make them and the investors who believe in our long-term value. This also is a win for
Mark, who can devote his full attention to conceiving and building the best social games in the world."

Mattrick will report directly to the Board and was unanimously appointed CEO. Mattrick will join Pincus in a newly formed Executive Committee to manage the operations and affairs of the Company between Board meetings.

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Original story: Don Mattrick is believed to be leaving Microsoft. At the moment this is just a rumor, however, it appears to be gaining momentum and Microsoft is supposedly going to make the official announcement within the next day or two. Most gamers should be aware of who Mr. Mattrick is, but for those who don’t he is the president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment unit which is responsible for Microsoft’s entertainment efforts, including Xbox.

Sources within Microsoft have indicated that Mattrick might be moving back to the Bay Area to take a CEO position with Zynga, according to All Things D. In this new position, Mattrick would be working with Zynga’s founder and current CEO Mark Pincus to try and turn the struggling company around.

Additionally, it has also been rumored that Don Mattrick was on the short list of executives being considered for the CEO position at EA. In the past EA and Microsoft have had fun exchanging executives and there was the possibility of this happening once again. EA has been in the hunt for a new CEO when John Riccitiello stepped down a few months ago amidst some controversy.

Supposedly, this move by Mattrick is unrelated the to the recent missteps with Xbox One and to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer talking about a massive restructuring within Microsoft. I’m not sure how many gamers will believe that as it does seem to be pretty coincidental timing, however, it is possible that Mattrick has been looking for a change of scenery for a little while now. The recent PR troubles that Microsoft has had and the mixed messages it has been sending over the past six weeks might have just helped expedite the process a bit. When it comes down to it though I doubt we’ll ever really know for sure.

Don Mattrick has done a lot of good for Microsoft helping to grow the Xbox division to where it is at today and he was one of the forces that made Xbox 360 so successful. During his time up in Redmond, Mattrick helped grow the Xbox 360 user base from 10 million to almost 80 million and Xbox Live from 6 million to almost 50 million. Sadly, despite all of the successes he has had with Microsoft, there will be some gamers who only remember what has happened the past month and a half. The Xbox One reveal on May 21 was all about the hardware, a point Microsoft made very clear before the showcase. Still, gamers got really angry when there weren’t very many games shown despite that show being all about the hardware and entertainment capabilities of the Xbox One. Microsoft promised that E3 would be all about the games and they kept their promise by unveiling a number of Xbox One exclusives, both first and third party.

If Mattrick does indeed leave Microsoft then it should be interesting to see who replaces him. In my opinion, from a public perception standpoint, Microsoft has still not found someone who could adequately replace Peter Moore. He was another Microsoft exec that left to pursue other opportunities at EA. One has to wonder whether Microsoft will hire from within to fill this position or whether they have someone else in mind within the gaming industry. Or will they try and get a fresh perspective by hiring from outside of the gaming industry?

What are your thoughts? Tell us what you think below.