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Don Mattrick Leaves Microsoft To Become CEO At Zynga

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the all-aboard-the-sinking-ship dept.

krkhan writes "It has been confirmed by Zynga that the head of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, Don Mattrick, is taking over as the new CEO. Mattrick joined Microsoft in 2007 and has led the business during much of the lifespan of Xbox 360, as well as the launch of Kinect and pre-launch of Xbox One. Zynga shares jumped 12% following the news."

59 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. no use for Dot Matrix by zlives · · Score: 1, Interesting

    or as I read it, after the XBONE always on drm marketing debacle, some one got fired.
    only if people at MS got fired for making a bad product and not just marketing debacles... I am looking at you b-lamer

    1. Re:no use for Dot Matrix by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

      Uhhh..wasn't he the douchebag that told their prospective CUSTOMERS to "deal with it" when the complaints about always online DRM surfaced and told them if they didn't like it to buy a 360, a fricking ancient piece of tech that if it follows typical MSFT strategy will be completely abandoned not 6 months after the Xbone comes out?

      Hell if that doesn't earn your ass a pink slip at MSFT WTF would? of course MSFT seems to be bound and determined to completely destroy their business so who am I to complain, i only hope somebody forces Ballmer out before he completely fucking slaughters the company. I wonder if in 5 years we'll be talking about "The Ballmer effect" to describe companies that refuse to listen to their customers and commit suicide?

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    2. Re:no use for Dot Matrix by TWiTfan · · Score: 1

      why should Microsoft start firing non marketing people for technical failures

      Because marketing people should know how to open their mouths without inserting their feet in them? Don Mattrick has had one PR flub after another for months. The guy seems incapable of typing or speaking a single sentence that doesn't make him and MS come off like insensitive, officious, clueless pricks. Not exactly the guy you want to be the public face of your new product (or any product, for that matter).

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    3. Re:no use for Dot Matrix by TWiTfan · · Score: 1

      It's kind of difficult to do that when the executives tell you that the point of the new product is to take a huge dump on the customer base and your job is to make sure they like it that way.

      Yeah, except that Don Mattrick *WAS* that executive. He was the head of the Xbox division, not some low-level PR flunky. The only one he took orders from was Steve Ballmer. The decision to dump on the Xbox consumer base was all his.

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  2. All the xbox employees now report to Ballmer by Seumas · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Ballmer issued a statement which included a comment that all Don's former employees now report to Ballmer through the holiday for the XBOX ONE.. Hm...

    http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/Press/2013/Jul13/07-01steveb-mail.aspx

    1. Re:All the xbox employees now report to Ballmer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      No hmm about it. It's a very good farewell message - no daggers.
      All it means is that they didn't have anyone to back-fill Don (which would indicate a resignation rather than being fired).

    2. Re:All the xbox employees now report to Ballmer by Seumas · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The question isn't about daggers, but about the efficacy of Ballmer picking up from here through to and after the launch. With Don's departure so swift, it strikes me a little like losing your head coach just before going to your championship game. It brings uncertainty and interrupts a certain flow and expectation at a crucial moment. I'm actually a bit shocked they wouldn't force him to stay til the end of the year (if for no other reason than to readily finger him for any failures in final numbers).

    3. Re:All the xbox employees now report to Ballmer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Well, Ballmer is very good at "launching" things, so maybe it will help.

    4. Re:All the xbox employees now report to Ballmer by hairyfeet · · Score: 2

      Well consider that Ballmer has been like a stuck record, all "appstores appstores appstores, social social social" I have no doubt that the Xbone will be all about pushing the appstore and social crap so most likely it'll suck like everything Ballmer has "personally" gotten involved in.Zune,Sidekick, Zune Market, WinPhone, his "leadership" seems to be "make it suck so I can pretend I can become the new Apple".

      So it honestly doesn't surprise me that Ballmer let him go and took over, it is pretty obvious that his ego overrides any common sense. I have been trying to think of another company to compare it to but I really can't, the closest i can come up with is how badly the Pepsi guy ran Apple, but even he saw there was problems and tried to correct them, Ballmer seems to be just going full retard ahead. I mean can anybody else think of a tech company where every single metric was shit and instead of trying to change course just gave the finger to their customers repeatedly? I sure as hell can't.

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    5. Re:All the xbox employees now report to Ballmer by TWiTfan · · Score: 1

      More likely that Balmer kicked Mattrick's ass out the door (with a chair thrown after him for good measure), then took personal command of the sinking ship in an effort to right it. Whether Ballmer himself is the right man for the job is debatable, but he could hardly do much worse.

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  3. XBone One by girlintraining · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think this guy saw the writing on the wall regarding the XBone One, and he got the hell out of dodge before the shit storm made landfall. Better to go to a place where you're wanted while you can still leave than be sucking on a "golden parachute" and have no job prospects.

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    1. Re:XBone One by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You do realize that you're basically saying Xbox One One, right?

    2. Re:XBone One by WankersRevenge · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yes, there will be a shitstorm. Microsoft really screwed up this launch and I think that's why he's leaving. After the DRM reversal, his number was up.

      But I don't think for a moment that Microsoft is out of the console race. They're in it for the long game and as far as launches go, I still think the PS3 holds the title of the worst console launch.

      I imagine in 2015 after the inevitable price drop, no one will even remember all the Microsoft cockups, but it's going to be a lot of painful months before Microsoft gets there.

    3. Re:XBone One by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      11b = 3

      Now the name actually makes sense.

    4. Re:XBone One by csumpi · · Score: 1

      > this guy saw the writing on the wall regarding the XBone One

      Oh come on now. And instead he went to the complete trainwreck of a spam house?

      No way he was leaving on his own. Not with product launch in 5 months.

    5. Re:XBone One by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      They're in it for the long game and as far as launches go, I still think the PS3 holds the title of the worst console launch.

      I doubt that.

      Sony's crime was mind-boggling arrogance, the belief that because they had so thouroughly dominated with the PS2 that they could do whatever the fuck they wanted and game developers and gamers would lap up their crap no matter how dumb it was. The central locus was the Cell processor, an exotic piece of hardware which is a bastard to program for and can't receive code that isn't specifically tuned for it without suffering nasty performance problems. Sony's thinking was that developers would write for PS3 first then do crap ports to other systems, or even not bother with ports since you effectively have to rewrite the whole damn graphics and sound stacks, thereby ensuring the PS3 had the best experience and everyone else would be second rate. We know how that ended, developers hated the Cell as anyone with a brain was predicting right out of the gate and the Xbox 360 enjoyed massive developer support, the PS3 wrecked Sony's dominating lead down to Microsoft's second fiddle.

      The Xbone is similar to what Sony did; Microsoft, having attained a dominating position, believes they can do no wrong and everyone will eat up their crap and thank them for the privilege of receiving a turd sandwich. Like Sony, this has backfired spectacularly. You may say this puts MS on the same level as Sony, but really MS is worse — because they didn't learn from Sony's very obvious and very public bout of hubris. It takes some incredible short term memory, or earth crushing hubris, to ignore what happened to your competitor and try the exact same shit in a different color and expect a different outcome.

    6. Re:XBone One by BitZtream · · Score: 1

      Microsoft really screwed up this launch

      Why are you using the past tense for something that hasn't happened yet?

      Businesses regularly say 'we are going to do XXX' just to see how the public reacts. Microsoft is notorious for inventing entire software products, marketing campaigns and release dates ... and never writing a single line of code. The (and many many others, mine included) do it to test reception for a potential product so it can be canceled earlier if its an unsure idea or as misdirection towards competition.

      Saying one thing initially and doing something else after customer input is SOP at any company that intends to stay in business.

      --
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    7. Re:XBone One by Nemyst · · Score: 1

      He saw the writing on the wall, but the writing largely said "You've been handling the One catastrophically, get the hell off before somebody else makes you do it." I've rarely seen an exec mishandle so many PR events in such a short amount of time. He's managed to make a lot of headlines, not one positively, since the One was first announced. It shouldn't be surprising that he's leaving now, and I'm not sure it was entirely his call.

    8. Re:XBone One by Clsid · · Score: 1

      Err, you are kind of supporting the argument that the PS3 launch was the worst console launch ever.

      In order to say that Sony learned their lesson, I would wait until they are in a dominant position again and pull out that act of humility. They all are for-profit companies, so the only good thing that comes out from there is when you have a real competitor that will take your business away if you don't get your act together. One of the reasons why open source works better for not screwing users up, even if it is hard to monetize on it.

    9. Re:XBone One by Xest · · Score: 1

      It's nothing to do with the "writing on the wall", he got pushed, period.

      This is the guy who basically told his customers to go f themselves and insulted just about every serving member of the US military whilst also claiming removing DRM from the XBox One was impossible, only for the company to do exactly that literally only a few days later.

      It's pretty obvious this guy fucked up, and was given his notice. Had he not got this job at Zynga I'd wager in a few more weeks time he'd have "decided to leave Microsoft to spend more time with my family".

      It's good news, this is a pro-DRM anti-consumer idiot and the XBox 360 got progressively more ad filled under his reign. Zynga will suit him as it's the kind of anti-consumer company he'll fit right into.

      The XBox One is now way better off because they no longer have this guy interfering to make it anti-consumer and so there is a possibility it will actually become better for consumers. The XBox 360 was made a great console without him, it's now possible the XBox One can be too.

      Getting rid of this guy is the best thing Microsoft's E&D division has had happen to it in quite some time so it's win-win for everyone. A stronger XBox One even if you hate it is still a good thing in preventing Sony becoming complacent with their offering which was always the danger if the XBox One was a flop because Sony was bad enough to customers even when it had no right to be complacent with the PS3 so god only knows what we'd see if it basically had the whole generation to itself.

    10. Re:XBone One by N0Man74 · · Score: 1

      I thought he was saying X-Bone One, as in, "Microsoft really X-Boned this one."

    11. Re:XBone One by JDG1980 · · Score: 1

      Err, you are kind of supporting the argument that the PS3 launch was the worst console launch ever.

      His point, I think, is that the Xbone launch was even worse because MS had the opportunity to learn from Sony's previous mistakes, and instead went on to make the very same mistakes. Sony's strategy was risky, but conceivably could have paid off. MS had every reason why they should have known better, but they went ahead anyway.

  4. Re:Being run by an ex-Microsoft manager... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... worked so well for Nokia ... Not!

    On the plus side, this is Zynga we are talking about. In a pleasant inversion of AvP, "Whoever Loses, We Win."

  5. An Odd One by sexconker · · Score: 2

    Usually the rats are just stowaways who flee if the ship sinks, but Rattrick was the one who sunk the XBONE ship and now he's fleeing to another sinking ship.

    Oh well, good riddance. Hope he fails at Zynga, too.

    1. Re:An Odd One by TWiTfan · · Score: 1

      He and Zynga are a perfect match. No one would give a shit if either failed.

      --
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  6. Re:Greetings Slashdort, now PAY ATTENTION! by sexconker · · Score: 2, Funny

    This is your LORD GOD speaking! Enjoy the fresh taste of Pepsi-Cola with none of the calories: Diet Pepsi! Remember, God loves you, so BURN IN HELL FOR ETERNITY and enjoy Pepsi Cola today!

    My question for you, Slashdort, is will there be a .pepsi domain, and will there be a .god domain? I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD AND YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME, Slashdort! Remember that and DIE! And DRINK PEPSI!

    God drinks Coke while wearing the American flag and playing the electric guitar for baby Jesus, you heathen!

  7. Did Zinga look at Nokia? by kawabago · · Score: 2

    After what that Microtwit did to Nokia, isn't Zinga afraid they'll meet the same fate?

    1. Re:Did Zinga look at Nokia? by theskipper · · Score: 1

      Based on the last couple quarters, Zynga's already on life support. Their fate isn't sealed yet but the magic eightball says "outlook not so good".

    2. Re:Did Zinga look at Nokia? by davydagger · · Score: 1

      honestly, if I was a stockholder, I'd rather liquidate the company, while you still have tangible saleable assets than take on a microsoft exec. They're track record is not good.

      I think its partially because you really don't need results to win at microsoft. Microsoft makes products people more or less have to buy(i.e. pre-installed, or needed for compatibility), instead of want to buy. There is virtually no risk/reward for making a flop.

      With the exception of the XBox, every product where microsoft had to compete on equal footing with another company they've lost, misrably. The brand name is toxic.

  8. Holy crap... by hine_uk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...when a sinking ship like Zynga looks good to a rat like Mattrick you know Microsoft are in trouble.

    1. Re:Holy crap... by am+2k · · Score: 3

      I'm not so sure. He used to be a (higher-up) middle manager, now he's the CEO. If an already crumbling ship sinks, nobody will blame him, and the next job he'll be given will be a CEO position.

      Remember, CEOs aren't rated by the performance of their company under their leadership, but only by the check they raked in every month.

    2. Re:Holy crap... by Horshu · · Score: 1

      Yeah, and Sinofsky "left" to reflect and look ahead.

    3. Re:Holy crap... by drawfour · · Score: 4, Informative

      He was the President of the IEB division. That's not a middle manager of any kind - he reported straight to Ballmer.

    4. Re:Holy crap... by csumpi · · Score: 1

      > If an already crumbling ship sinks, nobody will blame him

      That's not the issue. Sinking ships go through captains faster than a mexican restaurant through toilet paper rolls.

    5. Re:Holy crap... by Xest · · Score: 2

      Or you know that Mattrick was desperate because he'd been given his notice period after the colossal XBox One DRM screwup which he was defiant in defending and the subsequent reversal.

      I know which I'm placing my bets on.

    6. Re:Holy crap... by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      I'm not so sure. He used to be a (higher-up) middle manager, now he's the CEO. If an already crumbling ship sinks, nobody will blame him, and the next job he'll be given will be a CEO position.

      Well, he was president. Though, you're right that since he reported to the CEO, there's no way for him to advance to CEO job. And once you land in the coveted CEO spot, you're really in a little club - make your mark you're pretty much going to always be CEO.

      "President" is a lower executive title - you can be a president today, a VP tomorrow, a middle manager the next. But once you reached the lofty CxO suite, you tend to always be there.

      Network enough and you'll not only have golden parachuts, but a follow on job as well.

    7. Re:Holy crap... by DiEx-15 · · Score: 1

      I don't fucking want innovation. You're not smarter than your competitor. Just copy what they do and do it until you get their numbers.
      - CEO Mark Pincus

      Yep. Don Mattrick will fit right in!

  9. Re:Being run by an ex-Microsoft manager... by Valdrax · · Score: 1

    Maybe he'll actually be able to raise the standards of ethics and customer relations at Zynga. After all, starting so much closer to their level than the average executive will make it easier for the business culture there to relate to him.

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  10. Zynga shares jumped 12%? by ebonum · · Score: 2

    Does no one remember Nokia?

    Their new strategy will be to strike a deal with M$ and then develop solely for the Windows Phone because everything else is a waste of time.

  11. Re:Time to really dump Zynga shares by ArcadeMan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah that guy is very unlucky!

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  12. Shitstorm already here by bentwonk2 · · Score: 1

    Err the Xbox one launch was the shitstorm, they are in damage limitation now. Don was the face of bad news, change the face along with the message.

    1. Re:Shitstorm already here by TWiTfan · · Score: 1

      Yeah, and you don't want that launch clouded by having the prick who told the military and hardcore fans to go screw themselves still at the helm. He had to go.

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  13. Re:Being run by an ex-Microsoft manager... by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 2

    not for Nokia but that tactic has worked well for Microsoft. Is there something at Zynga Microsoft really needs so much that they orchestrate a planting to get it?

    stupid browser games that will soon be metro apps?

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  14. Re:Being run by an ex-Microsoft manager... by budgenator · · Score: 2

    Maybe he'll actually be able to raise the standards of ethics and customer relations at Zynga. After all, starting so much closer to their level than the average executive will make it easier for the business culture there to relate to him.

    I'd settle for just finding that lost pony's home.

    --
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  15. Re:Time to really dump Zynga shares by Colonel+Korn · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This guy went from EA to MS to now Zynga. Notice a trend?

    EA: Hemorrhaging money, dominant market share, in decline
    MS: Record profits, dominant market share, in decline
    Zynga: Hemorrhaging money, large share of market with no customer loyalty, in decline

    I'm going to go with "in decline"

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  16. Re:From pits of sewage by uniquename72 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic. Neither Microsoft or Zynga has any near-term strategy or long-term future.

    Yes, MS will continue to stay afloat a lot longer thanks to legacy contracts and ingrained habits. But in 15 years, they'll be lucky to be another Yahoo (who will be long dead, along with Zynga).

  17. Re:From pits of sewage by poetmatt · · Score: 1

    nah.

    this is just pre-acquisition movement, the same as nokia and every company that MS has ever done a big deal with. It'll be a few years.

  18. There goes Zynnga by davydagger · · Score: 1

    Given the history of ex-microsoft execs in new companies, its fair to say Zynga is on the way out soon.

    Nice knowing you!

  19. Re:From pits of sewage by mwvdlee · · Score: 1

    Windows, all versions combined, is still --by far-- the dominant OS on desktops.
    Unless something dramatic happen, it ain't going away any time soon.

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  20. I hope he is renumerated in Zynga points by DrXym · · Score: 2

    Good for one packet of Alpine strawberry seeds, golden plough, or Hawaiian shirt.

  21. I bet... by jones_supa · · Score: 2

    Let me guess that most of Slashdotters didn't even know that there was a person called Don Mattrick at Microsoft and thought that all the games division big decisions were once again made by Steve Ballmer only.

  22. Re:From pits of sewage by gtall · · Score: 1

    Like the desktop market shrinking drastically. Being the King of the Mountain doesn't mean much if the mountain is a molehill. I'm sure MS will continue to suck the blood out of corporate infrastructure though just because of their server/cloud thing and MBAs being completely lost without PP slides to tell them what they think.

  23. Re:From pits of sewage by Toreo+asesino · · Score: 1

    I love coming to Slashdot to hear about why MSFT is doomed each day. I've been hearing it for years yet annoyingly, the MSFT share prices just won't tank. What a shame! I wonder if investors know something the anti-MS crowd on /. don't....hmm...

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  24. Re:From pits of sewage by mwvdlee · · Score: 1

    Do you consider it likely that mobile devices will replace desktops and laptops sufficiently to threaten Windows domination?

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  25. From Fame to Shame ... by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

    Nice analysis of the pattern!

    Sucks to see Don Mattrick go from such Fame to Shame.

    i.e.
    "Prior to joining Microsoft in 2007, Mattrick served as the President of Worldwide Studios for Electronic Arts, where he worked for 25 years. At the age of 17, Mattrick founded Distinctive Software, Inc. which was acquired by Electronic Arts in 1991 and subsequently became EA Canada."

  26. Re:Prediction: 14-30 months, Zynga bought by JDG1980 · · Score: 1

    Zynga won't be bought by Microsoft – why would they bother? Instead, Mattrick will make their suite of games Metro-only. Microsoft gets all the advantages of a buyout, without having to pay any cash. Zynga will lose money and market share, but MS doesn't care, and Mattrick will no doubt have a golden parachute and probably some juicy kickbacks on top of that.

    This is what happens when you hire an ex-Microsoft executive. Their loyalty stays with the old company, and you will soon be little more than a colony of MS. Why anyone would trust these guys, after seeing what Stephen Elop did to Nokia, is beyond me.

  27. Re:Not necessarily a sinking ship. by sexconker · · Score: 1

    There's been a lot of rumors in the biz press that Ballmer will announce some big changes at MS.

    As for exactly WHY he left only he knows. But if I were offered a CEO position, I'd jump on it regardless of what my current circumstance or future was at my current company.

    Everyone knows why he left. He royally fucked up the Xbox One and was shitcanned for it.

    Focus on TV TV TV TV during the reveal
    Forced Kinect that no one wants
    Major DRM bullshit blocking used sales and rentals, requiring a check-in every 24 hours, etc.
    $100 more than the competition
    Underpowered compared to the competition

    Then came the embarrassing reversal of the major DRM bullshit. Good for gamers, bad for MS because of the PR fiasco and the existing deals they had with the 3 anuses of Satan (EA, Activision, and Gamestop).

    Mattrick was fired. There's absolutely no doubt about that, though of course they'll never say it - to do so would be tantamount to admitting that the Xbox One looks like a turd compared to the competition). The fact that he weaseled his way over to Zynga isn't surprising - for some reason companies love to hire CEOs who just got finished fucking some other company.

  28. Is this some kind of tech celebrity worship? by musth · · Score: 1

    I'm still wondering why everyday tech people should care what companies these overpaid pricks are jumping to to further their careers? Slashdot posts a lot of such stories.

  29. Think Simpler. by DarthVain · · Score: 1

    Maybe he just got tired of ducking chairs then...

    *ducks*