FarmVille maker CEO: 'Our employees have a real love for Zynga'

Zynga went public this past Friday, and the results were ... less than favorable. But on top of a slipping stock price, investors and recruiters alike have voiced concerns that the company's offering will inspire staffers to cash out, or sell their stock in the company and abandon ship. Not according to what CEO and founder of the FarmVille creator, Mark Pincus, told Fortune.

"I'm not sure why there's been all that speculation other than that we've been in a quiet period," Pincus told Fortune. "Our company has historically had very low attrition, much lower than other public or private companies in Silicon Valley. I know that hasn't been reported on, but it's true. We also continue to have an amazing inflow of resumes and talent."

The man behind CityVille was referring to suspicions sparked by a scathing New York Times report in which an EA recruiter said that Zynga's intense culture might drive employees to sell their shares and join other companies. (In this recruiter's case, hopefully EA.) "Our employees have a real love for Zynga and real pride," Pincus told Fortune. "We've asked them not to go out and defend us in the press or blogs, so I don't think that's come through publicly yet."

However, even before Zynga filed to go public, employees have spoken out on the company's culture and Pincus's approach to the business of making games. As of this writing, Zynga shares hover around $8.80--over a dollar less than the company's initial $10 asking price. If Zynga employees are going to sell, now's the time to do it.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

Do you think the Zynga IPO could result in an employee exodus? Would you leave the company now if you had enough shares in it?

Zynga CEO Mark Pincus doesn't like it when fans play for too long

Right. During an interview with MIT's Technology Review, FarmVille creator Zynga's CEO Mark Pincus said, "I don't like it when I find out that people are averaging long session times in any of our games. All of the newer games that we bring out are trying to reduce those session times. Because one of the biggest reasons people don't play games is they say that they don't have the time."

According to Technology Review, this comment was made before the CityVille maker agreed to a quiet period prior to its upcoming initial public offering (IPO). The butt of that quote may be true, but Pincus's words strike us as odd. They're especially odd considering the not-so-tiny 5 percent of paying players--about 54 million people--is likely the crop of players that spend the most time in games like Adventure World and CastleVille.

Technology Review says that the burst-style gameplay of its games can spur players to eventually pay up, quoting one player in particular that plays up to four hours daily in short 15-minute spurts. "You start spending time playing a game, and you find that you care about it for any host of reasons, if we [design] it well," Pincus told Technology Review, "and at some point you may see that by spending some money you can save yourself a bunch of time [or] get something that has status or changes your friends' view of you."
Sure, these in-game boosts can save players time, but they can also serve to keep players in-game for longer. The more virtual items bought outright, the less energy spent on procuring them, and thus more time spent doing other things in the game. This writer is willing to bet that the average whale, a casino term used to describe social gamers that spend large amounts of money, spends way more time than the average player that throws up maybe a few bucks a week. And we're sure Zynga likes them just teeny, tiny bit more.

Would you consider yourself a "whale" or know someone that might be a whale? How much time do you or they spend playing Facebook games daily?

Zynga CEO Mark Pincus doesn't like it when fans play for too long

Right. During an interview with MIT's Technology Review, FarmVille creator Zynga's CEO Mark Pincus said, "I don't like it when I find out that people are averaging long session times in any of our games. All of the newer games that we bring out are trying to reduce those session times. Because one of the biggest reasons people don't play games is they say that they don't have the time."

According to Technology Review, this comment was made before the CityVille maker agreed to a quiet period prior to its upcoming initial public offering (IPO). The butt of that quote may be true, but Pincus's words strike us as odd. They're especially odd considering the not-so-tiny 5 percent of paying players--about 54 million people--is likely the crop of players that spend the most time in games like Adventure World and CastleVille.

Technology Review says that the burst-style gameplay of its games can spur players to eventually pay up, quoting one player in particular that plays up to four hours daily in short 15-minute spurts. "You start spending time playing a game, and you find that you care about it for any host of reasons, if we [design] it well," Pincus told Technology Review, "and at some point you may see that by spending some money you can save yourself a bunch of time [or] get something that has status or changes your friends' view of you."
Sure, these in-game boosts can save players time, but they can also serve to keep players in-game for longer. The more virtual items bought outright, the less energy spent on procuring them, and thus more time spent doing other things in the game. This writer is willing to bet that the average whale, a casino term used to describe social gamers that spend large amounts of money, spends way more time than the average player that throws up maybe a few bucks a week. And we're sure Zynga likes them just teeny, tiny bit more.

Would you consider yourself a "whale" or know someone that might be a whale? How much time do you or they spend playing Facebook games daily?