Confirmed: Xbox boss Mattrick quits Microsoft for Zynga

Following a stormy E3 and some serious policy backtracking, it's been confirmed that Xbox frontman Don Mattrick has left Microsoft to head up Zynga.

Facebook game firm Zynga has confirmed that Xbox boss Don Mattrick is to be its new CEO.

AllThingsD broke the news as rumour before the announcement.

"In its short history, Zynga has redefined entertainment and brought social gaming to the mainstream," said Mattrick in a statement.

"More than 1 billion people across web and mobile have installed Zynga games, and franchises like FarmVille and Words With Friends have become a part of people's daily lives.

"I joined Zynga because I believe that Mark [Pincus's] pioneering vision and mission to connect the world through games is just getting started. Zynga is a great business that has yet to realize its full potential. I'm proud to partner with Mark to deliver high-quality, fun, social games wherever people want to play."

The move is being described as a coup for Zynga, a company which has experienced significant difficulties in recent years.

Mattrick is best known as the public face of the Xbox business. He was a regular in Microsoft press conferences and the announcer of Xbox One.

The exec has recently suffered considerable pressure at Microsoft over the handling Xbox One's DRM policies, and oversaw the dropping of the console's always-on functionality in the wake of a disastrous PR effort at E3.

That said, the ATD report claimed discussions have been ongoing between Mattrick and Zynga for "some time."

The 49 year-old Mattrick joined Microsoft in 2007.