Zynga has snagged another EA exec today. The social gaming giant is announcing today that former EA Executive Vice President Jeff Karp is joining as Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer. This is actually a new role for the company, and one that should help Zynga as it expands as a public company, following an IPO this fall. The move was originally reported a few weeks ago, but Zynga has confirmed this today.
In his role, he will oversee all aspects of marketing at the company, and will also be focusing on optimizing and driving revenue within the Zynga’s game studios. Karp will also be in control of international sales.
Formerly, Karp was Executive Vice President at EA Play, the home of titles such as The Sims, SimCity, Spore and My Sims. In his role as head of the Label, Karp engineered strategy for the development teams, defined the SKU plan, managed profits and more. Karp previously served as Chief Revenue Officer in EA’s Games Label. Karp actually spent a total ten years at EA.
Earlier this year, Zynga hired EA’s COO John Schappert as COO. As VentureBeat reported recently, other former EA executives who have jumped ship to Zynga include Steve Chiang, Mark Skaggs and Colleen McCreary. There’s a serious talent war in the gaming business and Zynga can hand out pre-IPO shares as an incentive for many executives and employees.
Zynga currently has 2,543 employees worldwide.