Zynga expands operations, hires two new GMs
Steve Lurie to lead mobile division, Roy Sehgal to oversee new studio
Major social game developer Zynga has announced two new executive hires: Steve Lurie will manage Zynga's mobile division, and Roy Sehgal will oversee a new, unnamed studio.
Lurie was most recently employed by venture capitalist fund MHS Capital, and is the former CEO of Advice Company, operator of legal advice resource FreeAdvice.com and lawyer directory AttorneyPages.com. He will be leading Zynga's mobile division, which recently released an iPhone version of the popular web game Mafia Wars.
Sehgal comes to Zynga from MTV, where he served as VP of premium games and services, as well as VP of consumer products and strategy for MTV's Nickelodeon division. He will be heading a new, core internal studio focused on "next-generation Zynga games."
"This is an exciting and pivotal time in Zynga’s history and we’re making two very strategic additions to our executive team to help us continue to best serve our players," said Zynga founder and CEO Mark Pincus. "Steven and Roy are outstanding additions and we’re excited to add executives of this caliber to accelerate our growth even further."
Zynga is a social gaming company, with games available on Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, and the iPhone, among other platforms. Today's announcement follows another recent executive hire; former EA senior director of global marketing Brandon Barber joined the studio in March as EVP of sales and business development.