SAN FRANCISCO (REUTERS) - Video game maker Zynga Inc said on Thursday it would slash its workforce by 15 per cent and expand a cost reduction plan in a bid to regain its financial footing.

The San Francisco-based game company, known for its Farmville game, is expected to cut about 314 jobs, the company said.

Shares in Zynga were halted in after-hours trading after closing at US$3.56 on the Nasdaq on Thursday.

Zynga also said that it acquired mobile game developer NaturalMotion, which has created games like Clumsy Ninja for Apple mobile devices, for US$527 million (S$671 million) in cash and stock.

The game publisher, once among the hottest tech companies with rapid revenue growth from popular Facebook-based games, was caught off guard as the games industry saw a boom in mobile games. The company has renewed its focus on transitioning to smartphones and tablet titles, the increasingly preferred format for casual gamers.