It’s been just over a year since Zynga signed its deal to buy OMGPOP, the company behind the booming Draw Something app, for roughly $180 million. Now, Dan Porter (in photo), the man who was OMGPOP’s CEO and who has been the Vice President at Zynga New York since the aquisition, has stated that he will be leaving the company.
Porter’s decision comes just before the launch of Draw Something 2, which is expected to be released soon and which is already available in Sweden. “Developing and launching games is a team effort, and we’re proud of the great work the Zynga New York team has done with Draw Something 2,” commented Zynga COO David Ko (left in photo). “Our follow up to the original hit is even more social and engaging, and we’re excited to get it into the hands of our players globally. We thank Dan Porter for his efforts in making the Draw Something franchise a success and wish him well in his future endeavors.”
Porter has been a controversial figure at Zynga since he joined the team. Just a few weeks ago, he was put under fire for making comments stating that Zynga copies the majority of its games from other companies. Porter later made a blog post apologizing to any Zynga developer that may have been offended by the remarks he made. He also stated that he didn’t mean what he said as an insult, and that he thinks the majority of companies copy games from their competitiors.”I am sorry that my actions have reflected negatively and generated negative press for the company,” Porter said. Some sources, however, claim that this apology was forced under threats by Zynga CEO Mark Pincus and that he would have been fired had he not apologized. Despite all this, Porter’s decision to leave seems to be mutual.
Sean Uberoi Kelly will be taking Porter’s spot as VP of Zynga New York. Kelly has been a Zynga employee for four years and was previously the company’s vice president of mobile.
