Categories

David Ko sees mobile as critical for Zynga’s comeback in 2013 (interview)

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 8 min

David Ko

David Ko 2Mobile gaming is perhaps the most strategic market in gaming now, and David Ko, chief operations officer of Zynga and No. 2 in command next to chief executive Mark Pincus, knows it. Ko recently made the tough calls of shutting down Zynga’s social games on Facebook such as CityVille 2, The Friend Game, and Party Place. And he is throwing a lot more of the company’s 3,000 employees into mobile development. If the company succeeds in this market, it could turn itself around, rescue its stock price, and deliver a big jolt of confidence for the struggling game industry.

Unlock premium content and VIP community perks with GB M A X! Join now to enjoy our free and premium perks. 

Join now →

Sign in to your account.

Previous page
Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.