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Don Mattrick, the game-industry veteran who was hired as chief executive officer of Zynga Inc. this week, is receiving compensation totaling more than US$50-million to turn around the struggling social-game developer.

He will receive a US$5-million signing bonus, US$1-million salary, US$25-million in restricted stock vesting over three years, and additional restricted shares and options valued at US$15-million, the San Francisco-based company said in a filing. In 2014, he’s eligible for a bonus of as much as US$5-million and a performance-based equity grant valued at US$7-million.

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Mattrick faces the challenge of turning around Zynga, which is suffering amid rising competition from upstarts such as King.com as well as a shift toward gaming on handheld devices. He’s taking over the CEO role from Mark Pincus, Zynga’s founder, who will remain chairman of the board and chief product officer.