OMGPOP CEO Dan Porter blasts former programmer, then apologizes

Nearly two weeks ago, Zynga made waves in the mobile gaming space when it acquired OMGPOP, the company behind the hit app Draw Something, for a reported $180 million.

As part of the acquisition, all of OMGPOP’s employees accepted new roles at Zynga with one exception – OMGPOP programmer Shay Pierce.

In an article penned on Gamasutra last week, Pierce explained why he chose not to accept a job offer at Zynga. Pierce said the tipping point was when Zynga was unwilling to grant him any assurances that an iOS game he developed on his own would remain solely his. It’s worth noting that the game in question, called Connectrode, is not very popular and by Pierce’s own admission, makes little to no money.

And then I wondered: why was I even trying to compromise? Zynga has an Austin studio, where several good friends of mine work. Yet I had never applied to Zynga. Why? Because the company’s values are completely opposed to my own values, professionally and creatively. Because I believe that developers are at the front lines of game development and deserve to be treated well, and I didn’t trust Zynga to do so. All this was still true — except that their complete unwillingness to negotiate with me only confirmed my concerns. Why on earth was I even considering joining.

And so Pierce ultimately decided against signing on the dotted line.

Now you would think this would be the end of the story.

After all, there’s not much to it. An indie programmer decides not to jump ship for a more corporate development environment. Nothing terribly shocking there.

But when OMGPOP CEO Dan Porter got wind of Pierce’s comments, he was furious.

So furious, in fact, that he was compelled to fire off a few Tweets (since deleted) wherein he called Pierce selfish and the “weakest one on the whole team.”

Ouch.

That’s not a good look for Porter, nor for Zynga which doesn’t necessarily have the best reputation.

In a subsequent tweet, Porter wrote: “What’s so interesting about success is the number of failures who try try to ride on your back. Shay Pierce is just one of many….” Or in other words: They see me drawing something — they hatin’.”

While I can appreciate the shout out to Chamillionaire, that’s no way to talk about a former employee, especially when said employee didn’t really say anything inflammatory in the first place. And eve more so not that Porter and co. have moved on to greener and more lucrative pastures.

Porter’s tweets naturally infuriated many who read them, even prompting Minecraft creator to call Porter “an insane idiot.”

In the wake of the backlash, Porter decided to address the mini controversy via email.

It reads in part:

Let me share my perspective on the record. The struggle to build and support Draw Something has been an emotionally draining and hard one. Many, many employees gave everything they had to make and support this game as it took off. These are guys and gals who will never be in the press, whose name people will never know but who are the kind of folks who work at omgpop and zynga and make the magic happen. It would not have happened if it weren’t for them.

When the game blows up and we have the chance of a lifetime to do something special, and one employee, who didn’t work on the product, and is more about his own games then the team, jumps in the press and becomes the story, it is very hurtful to all the people who are on team.

Working at a startup and sharing the ups and downs is a very emotional and bonding experience. To survive, everyone has to care about everyone else. When I saw how all the people who actually worked on the game felt after his article it was very hurtful. Sure it’s business. But when you give blood, sweat and tears on something and someone who doesn’t even work on the project, and prioritizes his own games as his own professional development over the team, becomes the story it is very demoralizing. It’s grandstanding and I’m sure i was overly emotional because I wasn’t thinking about Shay. I was thinking about the people who don’t get in the press. When I think about what the team at omgpop gave, yes I get emotional.

So was my language a little harsh in the tweet. Yes it was. But my point is that it wasn’t about Shay. It was about the 41 other people who made it happen. Those are the people I would throw myself in front of the train for and those are the people I want to celebrate.

Funny, Porter’s email claims that his point was that “it wasn’t about Shay” when his tweets were narrowly focused exclusively on him.

In any event, Porter on Sunday apologized for his Twitter behavior.

He also noted:

What I meant to say was… I want to celebrate the people who worked on the game. Who have stuck together. They are everything. Thank you.

Yeah, let’s focus on that instead of name calling former employees.

via VentureBeat