Microsoft wanted to acquire Zynga in 2010; Mattrick fronted negotiations

Don Mattrick lead an attempted acquisition of Zynga for then employer Microsoft in 2010, it has been claimed.

Bloomberg reports that negotiations took place between Mattrick and Zynga founder Mark Pincus. Microsoft had hoped to add Zynga’s then hit titles to its Xbox Live service.

Although no concrete reason was given for the lack of outcome, the site reports that discussions ultimately fell apart”. Evidently.

However, it is believed that these meeting were the genesis of Mattrick’s move to Zynga, which was revealed last week. Discussions about the possibility of a move first took place in March of this year, with the two road-bike enthusiasts began going on rides together”.

Mattrick was presented to Zynga employees at the company’s headquarters in San Francisco last week. When asked what he hoped to achieve in the next six months he claimed to be only focusing on the next 30 days”.