Zynga, the social gaming company, may be having a bad 2015 so far.
As reported by CNBC, apart from declining monthly users and less-than-stellar shares, the latest bomb to hit the company is when its chief financial officer David Lee abruptly resigned.
Without reason and without any warning, Lee left the company effective immediately according to a company statement.
In a report by Business Insider, Lee announced his resignation as the company reported its third quarter earnings. He joined the company in April 2014 and will be replaced temporarily by Michelle Quejado, who is also the company's chief accounting officer.
This change also comes about six months after Zynga founder Mark Pincus returned from a two year hiatus to the company's helm as its CEO.
According to a statement by outgoing CFO David Lee, he believed that the company now is in a much better position compared to when he first joined it. Of course, he expressed his gratitude to Pincus for their partnership. He also declared that Zynga is moving the bulk of its business and will focus more on mobile and growing their new IP and existing franchises. He added that these moves will definitely reduce the company's cost structure.
Fans and users may know Zynga through its string of hit games during the late 2000s, specifically the title "FarmVille," which many either find it fun or annoying.
But all is not bad because according to reports, the social gaming company actually delivered better-than-expected results this third quarter. Zynga posted earnings that broke even on revenue of $176 million. Analysts predicted that the revenue will decline about three percent year on year to $170 million, according to a consensus estimate by Thomson Reuters.
However, the company suffered a fall in its shares as it was reported that Zynga shares have fallen by 4.3 percent just over this past year. But the company also announced a $200 million stock buyback and issued guidance for a net loss of six to eight cents per share for the fourth quarter.
In a report by Venture Beat, Zynga is also reportedly delaying two of its incoming games, namely "CSR2" and "Dawn of Titans." Fans who are anticipating the release should not expect until 2016.
According to the report, the reason Zynga delayed "CSR2" and "Dawn of Titans" is because so far, the company deemed them sub-par and it intends to use the delay to improve the overall quality of the games. It also added that the delay is due to the company monitoring player behavior and to increase its long-term player retention.
