Mark Pincus, the founder of online gaming company Zynga, is stepping down as CEO, according to a statement made by the company on Monday.

Pincus will abdicate his duties to Microsoft’s Don Mattick, the charismatic head of the Xbox division and someone who has been grabbing a lot of headlines in the game industry lately as Microsoft gears up for the release of the Xbox One. Pincus, meanwhile, will stay on as chairman of the company and chief product officer.

Zynga, the once-thriving online games company behind titles like Words With Friends, Draw Something, and Farmville, has faced harsh struggles recently. Despite the vast popularity of Draw Something and Words With Friends, both mobile-based games, the social-media gaming company has had difficulties in transitioning from desktop computers to smartphones and tablets. Advertising rates are significantly lower for mobile games–even very popular ones–than for social media-based games on laptops and desktops. Despite the fact that mobile devices support a vast amount of internet usage these days, advertising buyers are not yet ready to embrace the format as they have with PCs, and Zynga is one of the victims of that old-fashioned thought process.

However, the announcement of Mattick as CEO could turn things around for Zynga. Already, shares have jumped 11% just based on buzz alone. Part of the reason for that buzz is probably Pincus himself, who offered a ringing endorsement for the Xbox One mastermind in a statement on Monday, even as he handed over the reigns of the company he built.

“Don is unique in the game business,” Pincus said. “He can execute in multiple domains – hardware, software, and network.”

Mattick responded with equal support for Pincus.

“I joined Zynga because I believe that Mark’s pioneering vision and mission to connect the world through games is just getting started,” Mattick said. “As Mark was recruiting me to come here, I was impressed by his creativity, drive and the clarity in which he sees the future of games and entertainment as a core consumer experience.”

The above quote sprung from an email written to Zynga staff, in which Mattick expressed anticipation at joining the company and amazement at the fact that Zynga’s games have been downloaded by more than 1 billion people worldwide. Titles like Farmville and Words With Friends, Mattick remarked, have become a “daily habit for millions of people,” and the new CEO is excited to explore and grow that market further.

Certainly, there is plenty of room for that market to grow, even if Zynga’s lagging shares have given the appearance of a company past its prime. More people are playing games on mobile devices right now than ever before, and the number is expected to keep growing. With Mattick’s expertise and Pincus’s passion, Zynga is set up to make a rousing return and become a key player in that growing market.