Zynga Shuts Down Japan Studio

More bad news for Zynga today, as the social games maker has announced that it will be shutting down its Japan studio later this month. Zynga Japan is scheduled to go dark on January 31, 2013 according to Develop, and though there are a number of games shutting down with it, one in particular will remain supported after Zynga Japan closes its doors. That would be the card battle game called "Yin Ayakashi record," which has found success on iOS and Android.

However, other titles like Montopia, Mojitomo and Machitsuku weren't so lucky, with some of them already shut down and joining the other social games Zynga recently took offline. This particular branch of Zynga has been around since 2010, when Zynga and SoftBank purchased Japanese studio Unoh and renamed it Zynga Japan. Now, in just a few short weeks, it will cease to exist.

The dissolution notice delivered by Zynga Japan cited "various reasons" for its closure, but it isn't hard to figure out the motivation behind shuttering the studio. Zynga has found itself in a bit of a financial rough spot as its casual gaming audience moves onto other games, so the company has implemented a number of cost-cutting initiatives that unfortunately include layoffs. This isn't the first studio closure we've heard about either, as Zynga shut down its Boston studio last year.

The social games company has been looking to break into other markets, teaming up with different developers to help diversify its offerings. We've been seeing the product of those relationships already, so hopefully this new direction for Zynga will get it back on the road to profitability, despite the fact that studios had to be closed and people had to lose their jobs along the way. This certainly isn't the last we'll hear of Zynga's financial troubles, so keep it here at SlashGear for more.