Zynga's Brian Reynolds Joins Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' Board of Directors

CALABASAS, Calif. and SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), the professional video games organization advancing the artistic values of the interactive entertainment community, and Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA), the world's leading social game developer, today announced that Brian Reynolds, chief game designer, Zynga, has been appointed to the AIAS' Board of Directors effective immediately.

A twenty-one-year industry veteran, Brian Reynolds is recognized as one of the industry's most talented and productive game designers. Honored by PC Gamer magazine as one of twenty-five "Game Gods" and one of IGN's "Top 100 Game Creators of All Time," Reynolds played a key role founding three successful videogame studios: Firaxis, Big Huge Games, and Zynga East. At Zynga, Brian led FrontierVille to 35 million players and now helps game teams across the company innovate on social gameplay.

"Zynga has been leading the charge for delivering quality social gaming to an ever expanding demographic," said Martin Rae, president, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. "And they have been at the forefront of one of the major shifts in our industry. Brian's work at Zynga has helped redefine how people enjoy and interact with the medium of gaming, and we are proud to have his experience and deep insight on the Board as gaming further becomes a part of everyone's everyday life."

"I'm incredibly excited to be joining the Academy Board," said Brian Reynolds, Zynga's Chief Game Designer. "Their awards program has always been a gold standard of recognition and career advancement for game makers and I'm honored to have a chance to help advance it. Likewise, the D.I.C.E. Summit blows me away every year with the quality and caliber of developers they bring together. I believe this opportunity is an important step in the continuing assimilation of social games into the broader game community."   

"Brian brings wonderful insight, creativity, and passion to the Board of Directors," said Mike Capps, president, Epic Games, and member of the Academy's Board of Directors. "During his twenty-one years in games, Brian has created exceptional console, downloadable, and social games – all while staunchly supporting the advancement of our dynamic industry.  Welcome, Brian!"

Reynolds' videogames have sold over 6 million copies worldwide, and he has masterminded the design of several smash hits including Civilization II®, Alpha Centauri®, and Rise of Nations®, as well as Catan® for Xbox360 Live Arcade. Highly regarded for his mastery of the art of programming, Reynolds' dual specialty gives him the substantial advantage of being able to bring his own visions to life - and he has built a reputation for finely tuned gameplay. As Chief Game Designer for Zynga, Brian now applies these talents to the rapidly growing world of social games, and with his cohorts at Zynga East in Maryland, is hard at work on creating newgames.

In June 2006, Brian was also elected Chair of the International Game Developers Association the non-profit professional society dedicated to advancing the careers of game developers worldwide, and he continues to serve the organization in an advisory role. Brian is particularly interested in finding ways to get developers a better deal on intellectual property rights, credit and recognition, awards programs, and general quality of life - leading him to focus his volunteer work in those areas. Brian's other volunteer work has included judging the International Game Festival, the Game Developers Choice Awards, and the AIAS Interactive Awards.

The AIAS Board of Directors is the governing body of the 22,000 plus member Academy and is composed of 16 industry leaders representing Blizzard Entertainment, Capcom, EA, Google, Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, as well as representatives from the independent development community like Day 1 Studios, Epic Games, and Insomniac Games.

For a complete list of the AIAS' Board of Directors, please visit www.interactive.org.

About the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) was founded in 1996 as a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote, advance and recognize common interests and outstanding achievements in the interactive arts and sciences. The Academy conducts its annual awards show, the Interactive Achievement Awards, to promote and acknowledge exceptional accomplishments in the field. To further enhance awareness of the Academy's vision, the organization created the D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit in 2002, a once yearly conference dedicated to exploring approaches to the creative process and artistic expression as they uniquely apply to the development of interactive entertainment.  With more than 22,000 members, including Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Ubisoft, THQ, Day One Studios, Epic Games and Insomniac Games, The Academy celebrates and honors the creativity of video games worldwide. More information can be found at http://www.interactive.org and http://www.dicesummit.org. Follow the AIAS on Facebook and Twitter.

About Zynga Inc.
Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is the world's largest social game developer with more than 227 million monthly active users playing its games, which include CityVille, FarmVille, Words With Friends, Scramble With Friends, CastleVille, Hidden Chronicles, Zynga Poker, Empires & Allies, Indiana Jones™ Adventure World, The Pioneer Trail, Mafia Wars and Cafe World. Zynga's games are available on a number of global platforms, including Facebook, Google+, Tencent, Apple iOS and Google Android. Through Zynga.org, Zynga players have raised more than $10 million for world social causes. Zynga is headquartered in San Francisco.

SOURCE Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences