Zynga hires new COO and plans to launch cash game products next year

San Francisco, CA, United States (4E) – CityVille and Mafia Wars creator Zynga is a step closer to realizing its plans to establish an online gambling presence. The social media game company hired Maytal Ginzberg, an experienced online betting VP, as its chief operating officer. Ginzburg previously worked for 888 Holdings, an online gambling portal that offers poker, sports betting and casino in areas where it’s legal.

Ginzburg is expected to join Zynga in the upcoming weeks. Her hiring was pointed out by Social Casino Intelligence.

Zynga made social gaming very popular on Facebook. But the company has realized the potential of tapping into Facebook’s market of more than 900 million users. Before Zynga’s recruitment of Ginzburg, several company executives resigned from their posts.

Facebook users enjoy playing Zynga Poker and the company hopes that translate well when real money games are offered.

Zynga chief executive officer Mark Pincus confirmed in the latest company earnings call that they are going to dabble in online gambling. If all the legal paper work gets done in time, Zynga is expected to offer its cash game products early next year.

In an interview with Inside Poker Business, Ginzburg gave an indication of what she and Zynga have planned in the future.

“We want to attract players who will play for casual entertainment, and we therefore needed to deliver social platforms that are easy to use yet provide all the interactive features users expect. The biggest risk we were running was that casual players avoided the product because of a lack of interaction, which is why so many have gone to Zynga.”

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