Zynga publishing president Bernard Kim is leaving at the end of the month for Match Group, where he’ll become CEO.
Kim has been an instrumental figure at Zynga who led the acquisitions of Peak, Gram Games, Small Giant Games, Rollic, Echtra, Chartboost and Starlark. Before his six years at Zynga he spent almost a decade at EA heading up its mobile efforts, and prior to that he was director of sales and channel strategy at Disney.
In a statement accompanying the news, Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau thanked Kim for his six year stint at the company. “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,” said Gibeau.
“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 himself added: “Working with Frank and the entire Zynga team has been a privilege and one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. 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 announced it was being acquired by Take-Two in January for $12.7bn, promising the “creation of new mobile games for many of the iconic franchises within Take-Two’s portfolio of intellectual property.”
