Zynga announced on April 8, 2015, that Don Mattrick was leaving as CEO and board member, effective immediately. Founder and chairman Mark Pincus returned as CEO. Zynga’s public statements and later company history connect the change to the company’s mobile strategy and the performance of its established games, but they do not disclose a definitive private board rationale. The careful answer is that the transition came amid a strategic refocus—not that public records prove Mattrick was fired or identify one decisive reason.
What happened to Don Mattrick at Zynga?
Zynga’s April 8, 2015 announcement said Mattrick would depart as CEO and leave the board that day. Pincus, Zynga’s founder and chairman, returned to the CEO role. Mattrick had become CEO effective July 8, 2013, after Pincus led the company from April 2007 to July 2013.
The timeline was short: Mattrick’s tenure as CEO lasted from July 2013 to April 2015. Zynga’s 2016 proxy statement later confirmed that his employment and other positions with the company ended on April 8, 2015. Zynga’s April 8, 2015 Form 8-K and 2013 appointment announcement document those dates.
What Zynga said at the time
The contemporaneous announcement paired the leadership change with praise for Mattrick’s work in a “mobile first world.” Zynga said mobile bookings—the company’s measure of sales activity—rose from 27% when he joined to 60% by the end of 2014. That is a figure reported by Zynga in its April 8, 2015 SEC-filed announcement, not an independently established explanation for the departure.
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Pincus thanked Mattrick for “better serving our players in a mobile first world” and for delivering “world class quality and value to our consumers.” The statement expressed appreciation; it did not say that mobile performance caused the CEO transition or explain the board’s decision. Zynga’s departure announcement is the source for both the comments and the mobile-bookings endpoints.
How Zynga later described the strategic backdrop
In its corporate history, Zynga retrospectively described Mattrick’s approach as pursuing high-fidelity mobile games. The company also said its long-running franchises declined while it focused on new product releases. Its account says Pincus returned to refocus on established franchises and long-time players and to reduce operating costs.
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This gives useful context for why a leadership reset may have fit Zynga’s priorities, but it remains the company’s retrospective account. It does not establish that the strategy alone caused the departure, nor does it reveal private board discussions. Zynga’s company history describes that strategic shift.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the public record does—and doesn’t—establish
- Established: Mattrick’s CEO and board roles ended April 8, 2015, and Pincus returned as CEO that day.
- Company-reported context: Zynga said mobile bookings rose from 27% when Mattrick joined to 60% by the end of 2014, and its later history described franchise declines and a refocus under Pincus.
- Not established by these records: the board’s private deliberations, a single definitive reason for the change, or that Mattrick was fired or forced out.
Zynga’s 2016 proxy provides a separate detail about the separation: it reports a $4 million severance payment over 24 months. It puts total severance plus accelerated equity vesting at approximately $18.852 million, with around 75% attributed to the remaining unvested portion of Mattrick’s make-whole award. The combined figure includes equity vesting; it is not the severance payment alone. Zynga’s 2016 proxy statement reports these terms.
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