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Anonymous threatens Zynga

Published on 30th October 2012 by David Hing

Zynga has had a tough year with tumbling share prices, a steady stream of executives walking out and a lawsuit from EA.

Anonymous has locked its sights on Zynga and has warned it will attack if the social games giant proceeds with an alleged plan to cut further jobs in the US and outsource them to India.

The hacktivist group is threatening to release Zynga's games for free on Guy Fawkes night. The group states that as part of 'operation maZYNGA', they will involve releasing access to confidential documents on Zynga executives that it has already released.

'During the last few days, anonymous has been targeting Zynga for the outrageous treatment of their employees and their actions against many developers,' reads a statement on Anonymous' forum.

Anonymous is accusing Zynga of being on the verge of laying off 1,000 of its staff and taking legal action against anyone that goes public with this plan. A video outlining the planned attack was briefly available on YouTube but has since been removed.

Earlier this month, Zynga Austin culled its staff headcount by approximately 150. Many of these employees are being transferred back to San Francisco while The Ville, which launched in June, is being taken over to the developer's India office to enter into maintenance. This is a process that Zynga has used before with its less popular titles.

Zynga has had a difficult year with its share value recently dipping below the value of company's combined assets. The Farmville developer has also seen a steady exodus of executive level staff and is currently under fire from EA which has launched a lawsuit over the similarities between the Sims Social and The Ville.

9 Comments

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blacko 30th October 2012, 09:45

Why warn them? They should just do it as actions speak louder than words.

Guinevere 30th October 2012, 10:19

Those using the name anonymous are sinking to new lows.

Zynga is an up-start web gaming company that spent more money than they had sense while they spent millions on duplicating games that others already had on the market. They felt they were the big guys and could get away with it, and by being big they'd 'win'.

They are now realising the errors of their ways and are looking to downsize from the giant they felt they deserved to be.

I'm sure it's hard on the workers who will lose their jobs, but I bet most of them would have seen what was happening around them but were happy to jump aboard and enjoy the ride... hoping it would last out.

There's a lot of injustice in the world, no matter what Zynga did wrong, if anonymous wants to go after the evil and corrupt then there's plenty of bigger targets to hit first.

mi1ez 30th October 2012, 10:27

They have little credibility as it is, why would they stop warning people!

Lance 30th October 2012, 10:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by blacko
Why warn them? They should just do it as actions speak louder than words.

Because they are doing it to try and save the jobs of 1000 people not to destroy them.

I agree that if they were trying to take down the company then it should be shock, and a warning wouldn't do much.

And I also agree that Zynga are not exactly the best company to be trying to protect the staff of, their games are just leeching money from those that don't know any better.

blacko 30th October 2012, 10:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by mi1ez
They have little credibility as it is, why would they stop warning people!

Very true! i was still thinking of them as some sort of freedom fighter...when in reality they are more like that itchy spot which you just cant reach....

theshadow2001 30th October 2012, 11:36

Wow another companies website goes down for a few hours while the attack is either mitigated or until the attackers go to bed. Even anonymous needs a face lift. Its becoming old news.

lacuna 30th October 2012, 11:46

Doesn't sound like they will achieve anything really. If the company is on the verge of bankruptcy then the jobs will be lost either way.

Shirty 30th October 2012, 16:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by lacuna
Doesn't sound like they will achieve anything really. If the company is on the verge of bankruptcy then the jobs will be lost either way.

This. Waste of energy. :(

LordPyrinc 31st October 2012, 05:39

Considering their namesake, any 14 year old could be making this claim of attack against Zynga. Go ahead kid, see what happens when the FBI or InterPol comes knocking at your mamma's door. You've been watching way too many movies and think you can get away with this. Your own hubris in announcing the attack beforehand will lead the authorities to you.