Zynga COO John Schappert steps down

Beset by charges of copyright infringement and insider trading, the bad news keeps rolling in for Zynga as the social game company confirms the departure of chief operating officer John Schappert.

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“We can confirm that John Schappert has left Zynga and its board of directors effective immediately,” said Zynga CEO and founder Mark Pincus in an e-mailed statement. “John has made significant contributions to the games industry throughout his career and we appreciate all that he has done for Zynga. John leaves as a friend of the company, and we wish him all the best.”

GamesBeat reached out to Zynga for more details. “No we’re not commenting beyond the statement,” said a representative for the company over the phone.

This comes after last week’s news that the company would be reorganizing their teams and that chief mobile officer David Ko and executive VP of games Steve Chiang would report straight to CEO Mark Pincus rather than Schappert.

Much of this came after the company announced a disappointing second quarter and suffered a 40 percent drop in stock in after hours trading.

In a form 8-K filed by the company today (August 8), Zynga said the following:

On August 8, 2012, John Schappert, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Zynga Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), resigned from his positions as an officer and a director of the Company, effective immediately.

Prior to Mr. Schappert’s resignation from the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”), he was a member of the Mergers and Acquisitions Committee of the Board. Mr. Schappert’s resignation from the Board was not tendered in connection with any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company’s operations, policies or practices.

The Company noted that Mr. Schappert has made significant contributions to the games industry throughout his career and it appreciates all that he has done for the Company. The Company further noted that Mr. Schappert leaves as a friend of the Company and it wishes him all the best.

This makes the departure seem much friendlier than previous reports.