Zynga Japan Appoints Ex-Tecmo Koei Head Kenji Matsubara As CEO

Zynga Japan has announced that it has appointed Kenji Matsubara as its new company CEO, where he will take up the position from May 9. Robert Goldberg, the current CEO for Zynga Japan, will step down from the position on that date, but continue to advise Matsubara as a consultant. Goldberg said of this change of directors, "I am very pleased with the inauguration of Kenji Matsubara and his talent." Matsubara became the CEO of Tecmo Koei in 2007, where he had worked since 2001. The executive resigned late last year for "personal reasons," as losses mounted at the Dead or Alive and Dynasty Warriors house. He joined Zynga Japan this year. Matsubara noted that he will be "aiming at further expansion by adopting the best expertise in Japan." Farmville developer Zynga teamed up with telecommunications/media corporation Softbank last year to create Zynga Japan, and soon afterwards bought Japanese social game developer Unoh. The company hopes to tap into Japan's history of gaming while leveraging Softbank's mobile and web technology to produce what the firms hope will be "the best social games in the market."