Zynga confirms departure of president Kim

Kim will exit Zynga to take up the position of chief executive of online dating business Match Group.

He served as president for six years, having joined Zynga in June 2016 following almost 10 years as senior vice-president of mobile publishing for Electronic Arts.

Prior to this, Kim was director sales and channel strategy for The Walt Disney Company for just under three years.

Kim will remain with Zynga until 30 May to support transition efforts.

“Working with Frank and the entire Zynga team has been a privilege and one of the most rewarding experiences of my career,” Kim said. “I’m proud of what we have accomplished together and look forward to watching the team’s continued success as Zynga embarks on an exciting new chapter as part of the Take-Two family when the transaction is completed.”

Zynga chief executive Frank Gibeau added: “For the last six years, Bernard has been a trusted partner to me and the entire leadership team as we have worked hard to deliver on our mission to connect the world through games.

“Bernard has played an important role in our company’s leadership team as we’ve broadened our offerings, built our presence in the industry and delivered unparalleled games to our players. 

“On behalf of everyone at Zynga, we thank Bernard for his many contributions to Zynga and extend our sincerest congratulations on becoming CEO of Match Group.”

Kim’s departure comes after it was announced in January that video game developer Take-Two Interactive had agreed to acquire Zynga in a deal valued at $12.7bn.

Take-Two, which owns both Grand Theft Auto publisher Rockstar and 2K Games, which develops the NBA 2K series, agreed to pay $3.50 in cash and $6.36 worth of shares of Take-Two stock for every Zynga share.

The combination is expected to create a business that will bring in $6.1bn annually in net bookings, a total expected to grow by 14% per year.