VentureBeat is reporting that Zynga has brought on longtime EA veteran Steven Chiang to oversee its social game development studios. Chiang is a former VP at EA Sports in charge of the Madden football franchise and co-founder of Tiburon, which EA acquired in 1998. During his 15 years working with the company he also helped launch a revamped EASports.com and played a role in the company s upcoming MMO golf game, Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online. Zynga currently operates three satellite studios out of its San Francisco headquarters. VentureBeat says Chiang’s addition, one of several former EA executives to join Zynga, sets up the company to compete with EA-owned social game maker Playfish. Read more at VentureBeat.
Separately, Industry Gamers reports that EA Sports has already appointed two executives, Pauline Moller and Andrew Wilson, to take over Chiang s responsibilities. Moller has been promoted to COO of EA Sports, while Wilson is said to be now running worldwide development for the division. Read more at Industry Gamers.
