Mark Skaggs, the co- creator of that once insanely popular virtual Facebook farmland FarmVille, is headed towards Moonfrog Labs based in Bangalore to do what he loves most, developing games. After resigning from Zynga five months earlier, Skaggs has taken up the challenge of being the Director at Moonfrog Labs, known for games like Teen Patti Gold and Smash Hit.
Skaggs, creator of games such as Empires and Allies, CityVille and Treasure Isle is keen on working for a gaming studio based in India, with a particular interest in mobile games. The games he created have already reached more than 365 million people across the globe. Skaggs was part of Zynga, one of the largest gaming studios in the world, for close to seven years.
At Moonfrog Labs, Skaggs will not only be developing games, but will also be a part of the board. His decision to fly across to Bangalore puts into focus India’s potential growth in the $30 billion mobile gaming market. With India set to become the second largest market for smartphones by 2017, the mobile gaming market will equally reap rewards of this insatiable demand.
Mark Skaggs began his career at the gaming giant Electronic Arts, where he developed Command and Conquer Generals in 2003. He then transitioned to Zynga in 2008 and went on to create FarmVille. He was also instrumental during Zynga’s initial public offering.
It’s exciting to me because the team here is very self-motivated, very excited about learning. While they have a lot of the raw material, I can take them to the next level and give them the benefit of experience, from the school of hard knocks.
stated Skaggs.
Tanay Tayal, co-founder at Moonfrog Labs started the gaming studio in 2013 after quitting his position as a developer at Zynga India. His company managed to raise $15 million worth of funding from global VC firms Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital in March 2015.
