Zynga Inc, announced on Monday that they will be cutting their workforce down by 18%, trimming 520 jobs and closing their offices in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas.

The reason for the job cuts was to cut costs, the cuts are expected to save $70 million to $80 million in annualized cost.

In a move that the social-gaming site’s founder Mark Pincus described as “necessary to move forward.”

In a memo released to staff, Pincus said the reductions were part of Zynga’s strategy to become more competitive in the gaming market, particularly in the mobile arena.

“Mobile and touch screens are revolutionizing gaming” he said. “Our opportunity is to make mobile gaming truly social by offering people new, fun ways to meet, play and connect. By reducing our cost structure today, we will offer our teams the runway they need to take risks and develop these breakthrough new social experiences.”

Shares for ZNGA dropped down to $2.99 and are currently on offer for around the same price from $3.41 a share prior to the announcement.

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Player traffic at FullTilt Poker has been on a rapid decline as measured by their cash game traffic according to the stats found on Pokerscout an independent poker traffic stat tracking site.

The once popular poker room Full Tilt, find themselves occupying the number four spot in global poker traffic stats since being reopened under the control of PokerStars.

When FullTilt Poker reopened back in November 2012, albeit without their USA players, they immediately catapulted back to their original second place spot that they had occupied prior to closing and it certainly seemed like Full Tilt  were back on track to maintaining steady traffic flow once again, however this traffic was short lived as many players simply cashed out their funds (USA players can only cashout now) and moved on to greener pastures including the likes of PartyPoker, 888 Poker and iPoker (Titan,Winner).

To a large extent, FullTilt Poker have created their own demise by offering players below par bonuses and thinking along the lines of PokerStars management who offer little in terms of player rewards.

One could always argue that PokerStars deliberately intended to crash Full Tilt Poker, doing so would surely improve their own position in the market with less competition.

PokerScout Current Traffic rank (7 day average):

1. Pokerstars – 23,600
2. PartyPoker – 3,300
3. iPoker (Winner, Titan) – 3,200
4. Full Tilt Poker –  3050
5. 888 Poker – 2,450

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