By Sarah E. Needleman 

Zynga Inc. founder and Chairman Mark Pincus is taking back the reins at the troubled mobile-games company, ending Don Mattrick's less-than-two-year stint as chief executive.

Mr. Pincus's return to the maker of "FarmVille," "Words With Friends" and other mobile games is effective immediately, the company said.

Mr. Mattrick, the former head of Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox gaming division, resigned as CEO and is leaving the board. Mr. Pincus, who owns roughly 10% of Zynga and has about 60% of voting rights, will receive a salary of $1.

In an interview, Mr. Pincus said the past two years have given him "enough time to reflect and process" his past performance. "I can bring a deeper DNA strand and intensity of focus," he said.

Zynga's tale is a case study in what happens to companies that are heavily dependent on Facebook Inc. as a platform. Zynga was a dominant player in games on Facebook at a time when the social network was largely used on PCs. Once people began ditching their computers, Zynga struggled to adapt to a world where people primarily used devices and apps.

Mr. Mattrick was brought in July 2013 to jump-start that transition and to inject strong leadership at the top. Mr. Pincus, who once sought advice from executive expert Bill Campbell on how to run a fast-growing company, stepped aside to focus on creative strategy while Mattrick ran the company.

Mr. Pincus now wants to get back "what differentiated us," he said. "While we built this whole new DNA and muscle in mobile, we weren't able to reinvest and re-establish some of what was our special sauce," Mr. Pincus said

Write to Sarah E. Needleman at sarah.needleman@wsj.com

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