The Zynga Spell

Zynga’s Johanna Carney aids company expansion and connects the world through games like FarmVille and Words With Friends

By Will Grant

THERE WAS A TIME IN 2009 WHEN IT SEEMED LIKE anyone with a Facebook account or smartphone was going to be leaving the world behind to take up a solitary life of farming. FarmVille, which sparked one of the first truly worldwide mobile gaming crazes, was in full effect, and everyone from CEOs to actual farmers found themselves immersed in a pleasant, peaceful digital world of crop production and cow milking. The game had nearly thirty-five million daily users at its peak, and at least that many people had received a Facebook notification letting them know their friend needed a hand cleaning up their digital stables.

The author of that game was Zynga, founded in 2007. In the thirteen years since, the company whose self-proclaimed goal is to connect the world through games has brought its latest and greatest creations to social platforms. Some of the games, like Words with Friends and Chess with Friends , CSR Racing, and Zynga Poker, have become long-lasting staples of mobile gaming. Their latest game partnership will no doubt prove next level in terms of name recognition. Zynga is in the process of rolling out Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells in limited markets, a release that comes on the back of an already incredibly strong fiscal year. The company’s mobile revenues in 2019, which account for 94 percent of the company’s overall revenues, were up 53 percent year over year, reaching a whopping $1.32 billion. There’s little doubt that the Harry Potter title, along with titles like Puzzle Combat and FarmVille 3 , will continue to boost Zynga’s outreach, even as competition in the marketplace increases.

In addition to the steep competition posed by companies like Activision and Electronic Arts, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided as many challenges at Zynga as at any other company. Zynga has responded in kind. As part of a game developer coalition, Zynga took part in the #PlayTogetherApart cam- paign, which aims to spread coronavirus awareness and social distancing precautions to as wide an audience as possible.

“Our mission at Zynga has always been to connect the world through games, and it has taken on a new dimension as we face this global crisis,” said Bernard Kim, president of publishing at Zynga. “We are honored to support the important work of the World Health Organization and provide our players with a support system during this period of physical distancing. The #PlayApartTogether initiative activates positivity and community that can help us commit to the urgent task at hand.”

Helping Zynga navigate both the legal complexities of the pandemic and Zynga’s continuing expansion, even in the time of crisis, is senior counsel and head of global employment Johanna Carney. The attorney was in-house at wellknown data security company Symantec prior to joining Zynga three years ago.

Part of Zynga’s market bullishness at the time of writing, in March 2020, is due to Carney’s help in expanding Zynga into a global operation and advising the gaming company through adept acquisitions that make good business sense. Tailoring integration strategies for the small companies Zynga acquires is essential to ensuring a successful transition. To allow the companies to operate optimally, Zynga must utilize the best parts of their practices and integrate areas where Zynga can be of service.

Along with her work at Zynga, Carney has offered her time to the International Justice Resource Center, whose mission is to “empower people to claim their human rights using international legal protections.” The organization provides informational resources, tools, analysis and reporting, individualized advice, and nongovernmental association staff training to guide advocates and individual victims in understanding and protecting their rights.

Carney, almost a decade into her legal journey, is eventually eyeing a GC position, and there’s no doubt that her business partnership at Zynga and community outreach at the IJRC are creating a well-rounded GC from whom any organization could benefit.

We are proud to recognize Johanna Carney, Senior Counsel and Head of Global Employment at Zynga, for her leadership and accomplishments.

Helping clients overcome the challenges of competing in the global economy through a new type of thinking and a different mindset.

We are The New Lawyers

We are Baker McKenzie bakermckenzie.com