Zynga founder Mark Pincus steps down as CEO -- again

Zynga founder Mark Pincus (pictured) is once again stepping down as CEO of the company and becoming executive chairman of the board, but this time he's being replaced by board member Frank Gibeau -- effective Monday.

If this sounds familiar, it's because Pincus did much the same thing in 2014 when he passed the CEO role to Microsoft expat Don Mattrick in favor of serving as board chairman. After a tricky year and change, Mattrick left the company and Pincus stepped back up to take the reins.

Now Gibeau will be in charge, though he's only been on the company's board of directors since last summer; prior to that, he spent nearly 25 years at Electronic Arts in roles like president of EA Games and VP of EA Mobile.

"I recruited Frank seven months ago to become an active board member to advise and coach our teams...we have worked well together and share a common vision for Zynga around mobile and social gaming,” stated Pincus in a press release announcing the switch. "Iin terms of our respective roles, as CEO, Frank will report to our Board, leading strategy and execution. I will focus on driving our vision and working with a small number of live and new product teams to help drive innovative new social experiences for our players."

Zynga has been struggling to keep its fortunes fair as the social game industry moves from browsers to mobile devices, and has recently begun exploring the possibilities of selling off its headquarters in San Francisco.