Want to become a millionaire even after pissing off your gamer userbase? Join Zygna!

[Uli]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/former-...-zynga-6411068

our business world is seriously ****ed. i guess i should apply for job with Zygna nonetheless

i am off to: www.facebook.com/pages/Zygna/100704053325761

[FelixofMars]

Yep, as a figurehead I guess you can be paid what you want. I can't believe you can be a totally ass but worth millions. Having said that look at some of the others (Murdock and his ilk - be an awful person and be worth millions.)

I have a lot of respect for some however, like Bill Gates and Richard Branson even if they are foolish sometimes.

[Uli]

i think nobody should be paid or earn that much money simply by joining a company - regardless of skill or reputation. that's simply not ethical. and companies offering these kind of opportunities while laying off staff beforehand deserve to be boycotted. gladly i never played Farmville, not even gave a like for this crap.

[nonny]

I think he was a millionaire waaay before this... But yeah he's been an asshole of late so money doesn't change everything.

[CMcK]

I somehow doubt that Mr. Mattrick was booted out and moved to Zynga in the short space of time since The One was revealed. This has probably been in the planning for ages. I wonder how many other companies were interested in signing him up?

He probably didn't expect to be leaving on a low note though.

Executive salaries are mental though. But if we are all being honest if someone offers you all that money you aren't likely to knock it back.

[vanpeebles]

It's funny because the other day someone was selling some FM Towns stuff on here I think and I saw 4d boxing. 4d Boxing was a fave game of mine back in the day on the PC so I had a look at the FM Towns version out of interest and Mattricks name was on the intro. Turns out an old company of his did 4d Boxing and the original Test Drive games.

[Guts]

Meanwhile regular people are losing their jobs everywhere and people in Africa die of hunger and AIDS. The world is a ****ty, unfair place.

[saturn-gamer]

Yeah this is ****. He's like receiving bonuses for doing nothing yet. Bonuses that top off 5 million dollars. I will never accumulate such an amount. And I am happy. Some others have to eat from garbage cans.

Thats how it is. If I were Mattrick I wouldn't say no either. And that poor homeless guy grabbing food from the garbage wouldn't either.

Mattrick certainly wasn't booted. MS has a hard time finding a replacement after all, it appears that even Ballmer himself will do the job for the time being.

[Uli]

it's not about Mattrick. it's about how crazy, unreasonable and money-only oriented this industry has become. sure, it's always been about making profits with games. but i can sense the spirit of this industry has changed dramatically and unfortunately not for the better. games industry needs to be driven by visions and passion again.

[Party boy]

What can he possibly offer to justify paying him so much?

[Profit]

I wouldn't say it's unreasonable, we're fueling these payments. Today's entertainment wouldn't get made unless someone was prepared to gamble the best part of a billion dollars and to pay people multi millions to get the job done. Take Sony, they made several hundred millions from 3 James Bond films, while at the same time period lost several hundred millions from Cell and TVs. The consumer benefits from some great games and films, but a lot of people got either very rich or lost their jobs.

[VR46]

This is what I call a piece of good business (by Birch), what were AOL thinking??? a $840M write-off in just two years, bosh.

Social network Bebo is set to be relaunched after one of its founders bought the company at auction for $1m (?657,000).

Michael and Xochi Birch set up Bebo which became hugely popular among teenagers in the early 2000s.

It was sold to AOL in 2008 for $850m (?558m) but dwindling users led to it being sold on in 2010 for just $10m.

Bebo sought bankruptcy protection in May and Mr Birch has now bought the company from its receivers.

[FelixofMars]

Well yes and no, in the past the small teams would get the share of the big wages so its always been money oriented. But yeah its shifted from the people that care to management that doesn't. But it's here to stay as games has been sanitised and overtaken by corporate values. That is why there are so many indie individuals striking out alone.

it's not about Mattrick. it's about how crazy, unreasonable and money-only oriented this industry has become. sure, it's always been about making profits with games. but i can sense the spirit of this industry has changed dramatically and unfortunately not for the better. games industry needs to be driven by visions and passion again.