Polygon reports that Zynga is shutting down their Japanese branch, effective next month. Kenji Matsubara, Zynga's CEO of Japan operations, announced via Facebook that his company's Japanese offices will be closed by the end of January.
Zynga's official Japanese website also has the following update. Which is courtesy of Google Translate, hence why its a bit rough:
"Notice of dissolution of a Japanese corporation
Thank you for patronizing always Zynga Japan. That we will continue to work but I get the kindness of everybody over two and a half years since its establishment as the Japanese subsidiary of U.S. company Zynga, to dissolve the corporation Womochimashite Japan January 31, 2013 due to various reasons became.
I would like to thank deeply from my heart to everyone, including the customer who enjoys the title of our past, we received your support.
Because we will continue to service beyond January 31, 2013 "Yin Ayakashi record" has gotten (and Android version of iOS) well received, thank you for your continued patronage and support."
This is yet another massive blow to Zynga, who has had a frankly awful 2012, top to bottom. Japan represented a fairly important market for the company; whereas mobile gaming is only a relatively recent craze here in the States, it has been firmly established in the east for many years now, so there is much money to be made.
No reasons have been cited as of yet as to what went wrong, but one's best guess is as good as any. Perhaps it's the same reason why so many other Western products and services have flopped in Japan, mostly due to an ability to truly understand its customer base?
That and how Zynga's offerings are pretty much, across the board awful, along with how Japanese consumers have so many other options at their disposal.
