Zynga's Exec Exodus And The EA Lawsuit - Business Insider

Zynga

John Schappert isn't even at Zynga anymore, but EA's suing over his hire nonetheless.

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Last month, Electronic Arts, the video-game giant, sued Zynga, the social-gaming pioneer behind FarmVille and Draw Something, for copyright infringement.

Today, Zynga lashed back, claiming that the lawsuit was bogus and that EA was really mad about Zynga's habit of poaching top executives.

Here's what's kind of embarrassing for everyone involved: Out of the three top executives EA named in its lawsuit, only one remains at Zynga.

COO John Schappert departed in August, after a reorganization to gear the company around mobile and cross-platform gaming left him without major responsibilities.

Marketing chief Jeff Karp followed Schappert out the door this month.

Only Barry Cottle, who joined Zynga from EA in January, is still there.

EA hinted at this in its response to Zynga's filing:

This is a subterfuge aimed at diverting attention from Zynga?s persistent plagiarism of other artists and studios.? Zynga would be better served trying to hold onto the shrinking number of employees they?ve got, rather than suing to acquire more.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/zynga-john-schappert-jeff-karp-barry-cottle-2012-9

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