Almost two years to the day since their studio was acquired by Zynga, Words With Friends creators Paul and David Bettner are to leave the social gaming giant.

As the firm's stock price continues to plunge, so the Bettner brothers are to depart the company that paid out more than $53 million for Newtoy back in November 2010.

Money matters

The news comes as Zynga projected up to a $105 million loss in its most recent quarter, in part due to the weaker performance of its web and Facebook line-up than expected.

Zynga has also been forced to write off up to $95 million due to an impairment charge incurred by an overestimation of OMGPOP's intangible assets – the Draw Something studio acquired for $180 million back in March.

Zynga's share price fell by 19 percent in the immediate hours that followed the news to $2.25 - a figure that represents an 80 percent drop from Zynga's all time high back in March, according to MarketWatch.

Commentators are already claiming the departure of Paul and David Bettner is likely to hit that share price even further.

[source: VentureBeat]