14 DAY TRIAL // After a major financial publication claimed that the leadership at social game developer Zynga asked employees to return shares given to them in the early days of the company or face threats and dismissal, the leader of the company launched a counterattack, saying that those who claim foul play did not understand the meritocracy system used.
In an internal memo to employees, Mark Pincus, who is the chief executive officer at Zynga, has said, “The Wall Street Journal posted a story last night which paints our meritocracy in a false and skewed light. The story is based on hearsay and innuendo which is disappointing but is to be expected as we move towards becoming a public company.”
He added, “We have nothing to hide in our past and present policies and I am proud of the ethical and fair way that we’ve built this company. As many of you have heard me say – we’re building a house that we want to live in.”
Disgruntled employees have said that they were pushed to take lower ranking position rather than be fired, which would cause them to lose access to all Zynga stock options.
Pincus says that the entire structure at the social games developer is created to make sure that employees are compensated on their performance rather than on how long they have stayed with the company.
The scandal is linked to the impending public stock offering from Zynga, which is set to bring in more than 1 billion dollars (734 million Euro) to the company and make very wealthy men of all those who have stock options.
In the last few months the aggregate player numbers for most Facebook Zynga made games, including FarmVille, have gone down and their dominant position is being threatened a new breed of titles, led by the Electronic Arts made The Sims Social.