微软游戏专家能否拯救Zynga？

    绝境之中需要绝招。这句话用在摇摇欲坠的休闲游戏公司Zynga上就意味着换上一位新CEO。本周早些时候，公司宣布长期担任CEO的创始人马克•平克斯即将卸任，接替者为微软（Microsoft）互动业务的前总裁丹•马特里克，他所负责的产品包括最畅销的Xbox电视游戏主机。

    马特里克在写给Zynga员工的一封信中写道：“Zynga是一家很了不起的公司，只是尚未开发出全部潜力。”也许吧。尽管依靠开心农场（Farmville）等产品引起过轰动，Zynga迅速取得了成功，但它最近的许多游戏却表现不佳，导致营收令人大失所望，公司不得不裁员。上个月，Zynga裁员18%，其中包括“你猜我画“（Draw Something）制作组OMGPOP的大部分成员。据悉，公司曾在去年早些时候为这支团队支付2亿美元。

    现在，Zynga有了一位新领袖马特里克，他过去的经历已经证明他有能力使公司重新焕发生机。Xbox 360已经连续29个月雄踞全美游戏主机畅销榜第一。而马特里克2007年从美国艺电公司（Electronic Arts，EA）加入微软时，Xbox业务尚未实现盈利。也正是当年，硬件瑕疵导致24%的Xbox 360主机发生了故障。为了延长产品保修期，赔偿不满的消费者，微软支付了11.5亿美元。

    马特里克起草并成功实施了一项三年计划，扭转了不利局面。这个计划包括引进新人才，投资如微软Kinect这样的新技术。Kinect是全身体感控制器，在这款主机销量回升的过程中居功至伟。确实，至少一名微软高管表示，没有马特里克，就没有Kinect。马特里克组建了Kinect团队，招募了外来人才，如曾担任创意总监的公司副总裁库都•图苏诺达，还设定了一系列目标，如降低成本以达到消费者可以接受的价位。谦虚的马特里克在2011年对《财富》（Fortune）表示：“我让团队参与进来，寻找我们要创造的愿景，保证我们有着强大的文化和特征，保证我们在融合艺术形式和创造技术的标志时，能感到乐在其中。”

    微软互动娱乐业务部门前COO和CFO丹尼斯•杜肯将马特里克比作部门变动中的中流砥柱。不过更重要的，马特里克还是相对默默无闻的先知。杜肯当时告诉《财富》：“很多人能够看清趋势，但唐不仅看清了趋势，还组建了团队，把自己的愿景付诸实践。他就这样改变了我们业务的发展轨迹。”

    Desperate times call for desperate measures. In the case of flailing casual gaming company Zynga (ZNGA), that meant installing a new CEO. Earlier this week, the company announced founder and long-time CEO Mark Pincus would step down, making way for Don Mattrick, the former president of Microsoft's (MSFT) Interactive Entertainment unit, which includes the best-selling Xbox video game console.

    "Zynga is a great business that has yet to realize its full potential," Mattrick said in a letter to Zynga employees. Perhaps. Though Zynga rose to success with hits like Farmville, many newer releases have underperformed, resulting in disappointing revenues and layoffs. Last month, the company laid off 18% of its workforce, including most of the team from Draw Something-maker OMGPOP, for which the company reportedly paid $200 million early last year, according to reports.

    In Mattrick, Zynga has a new leader with a proven track record for revitalizing ailing properties. The Xbox 360 has remained the number-one selling console in the U.S. for 29 months consecutively. But when Mattrick joined Microsoft in 2007, from games publisher Electronic Arts (EA), the Xbox business was unprofitable. That was also the year hardware defects caused up to 24% of all Xbox 360 consoles to fail, leading to a $1.15 billion write-off to extend warranties and reimburse disgruntled owners.

    Mattrick drafted and successfully executed a three-year plan to turn the business around, which included hiring new talent and investing in technologies like Microsoft Kinect, the full-body, motion-sensing controller which was largely credited with driving console sales up. Indeed, at least one Microsoft executive has said that without Mattrick, Kinect wouldn't exist. Mattrick assembled the Kinect team, recruited outside talent like creative director-turned-corporate vice president Kudo Tsunoda, and set goals such as reducing costs to reach that affordable consumer price point. "I keep the team engaged, to find a vision for what we're going to create, make sure we have a strong culture and identity, and have fun blending our art form with the signs of creating technology," a humble Mattrick told Fortune in 2011.

    Dennis Durkin, former COO and CFO for Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, credited Mattrick as a stabilizing force amid the department changes. But more importantly, Mattrick was a relatively unsung visionary. "A lot of people can see trends, but Don also formed a team that could execute against a vision," Durkin told Fortune then. "That's where he's really changed the trajectory of our business."