Newsbrief: As the Facebook-centric Zynga continues its transition to mobile, the company has invested $10 million in TapZen, a tablet game company founded by former Zynga exec Mike Verdu.
TapZen is geared to follow on the Zynga business model but with properties aimed at tablet devices, a market Zynga has struggled to corner. TapZen and Zynga may end up as direct competitors further down the road, as more game development shifts to tablet.
Verdu is the latest of a series of company alumni who have splintered off to start their own projects. Other former Zynga free agents include Amitt Mahajan, who founded mobile game studio Red Hot Labs in 2011, and Bret Terrill, a former Zynga mergers and acquisitions manager who founded 12 Gigs Inc. before selling it back to Zynga in 2010.
I've met a lot of ex-Zynga employees that are trying to start their own startups. Some genuinely want to run their own gaming company and grow it as a business. Others however solely want to sell their startups to their former employer, knowing exactly what markets they want to move into. Which is fine, but not all that exciting from a consumer standpoint, and probably won't lead to anything worthwhile for Zynga.
