“Alan only had a brief journey into the dark side at Zynga,” said Harbin. “He developed valuable skills there. We were looking for people who had AAA game experience and had made the transition to free-to-play social games. Now Alan will come back to the light side.”

Patmore is only one of about 3,000 Zynga employees, many with extensive game development experience. But to the degree that perceptions matter, his decision to leave one of Zynga’s top game franchises is a red flag. No company can afford to be seen as a place where employees are abandoning ship.

Patmore will oversee all product at Kixeye. Harbin previously did that role himself, but he is delegating that crucial role to Patmore. After all, Kixeye now has 250 employees, and the CEO has a lot of responsibilities beyond launching products. Harbin said he interviewed dozens of people before deciding upon Patmore.

So the recruiting video worked.