September 2025 Jobs Roundup: Blizzard Entertainment Names Walter Kong SVP of Live Games and Mobile Development

Keeping track of the latest appointments and transitions in the gaming industry can be challenging, which is why we've compiled this semi-regular roundup. To have your company's appointments included, please send the names of appointees, their new roles, and previous roles to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. Walter Kong has been promoted to Senior Vice President and Head of Live Games and Mobile Development at Blizzard Entertainment. Kong initially joined Blizzard in 2011 as Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives and was part of the Hearthstone leadership team before leaving in 2018 to join Epic Games as Head of Product Management for Analytics and Business Operations. He returned to Blizzard in 2020 as Executive Producer and later became General Manager of Overwatch in 2021. 'I'm honored to have had the opportunity to collaborate with talented colleagues and make an impact at a company I love and admire,' Kong said. 'While I'll continue to lead the overall strategy for the Overwatch franchise, I'm excited to take on Hearthstone, Diablo Immortal, and Warcraft Rumble.' Appcharge, a direct-to-consumer payment platform for mobile game publishers, has appointed Nadav Hollander as CFO and Paul Bowen as CRO. Formerly Appush's CFO, Hollander will focus on strengthening the platform's financial infrastructure to better support publishers. He recently guided Appcharge through its $58 million Series B funding round led by IVP. Bowen, previously Stream Elements' CRO, will ensure the company becomes the go-to DTC payments platform for mobile gaming publishers. 'Nadav and Paul are proven executives in the mobile games space, each with a track record of bringing companies into the future to fulfill their potential,' said Appcharge CEO and co-founder Maor Sason. Alexander Rehm has joined Epic Games as Product Director of Live Ops. Prior to this, Rehm worked as Live Ops Director at People Can Fly from January 2024 to August 2025 and as Director of Live Operations at Creative Assembly from June 2020 to December 2023. 'I'm excited to join Epic Games as Product Director, Live Ops, for Epic Online Services, where I'll work on defining product strategy, roadmap development, live operations, and strategic planning relevant to the live ops space,' Rehm said. Starbreeze Entertainment has appointed Marina Dögg Jónsdóttir as Head of People Experiences. Before joining Starbreeze, Jónsdóttir was Head of Talent at Cult of the North from March 2024 to August 2025. She also worked at Epic Games as Senior Technical Recruiter from April 2021 to December 2023. 'I'm excited to start my new position as Head of People Experiences at Starbreeze Entertainment,' Jónsdóttir said. Activision Blizzard has promoted Mark Pawluk to Influencer and Creator Manager for Call of Duty (EMEA). Pawluk joined the firm in 2023 as Senior Communications Specialist for Call of Duty (EMEA). Previously, he worked at Bastion, starting as Account Executive in 2019 and rising to Senior Account Executive and then Junior Account Manager. Mike Mongeau has been appointed Head of Product at global compliance platform k-ID. Mongeau was previously Principal Product Lead at Xbox, where he worked for almost two decades, starting in 2006 as Support Engineer and PM for Windows, Windows Phone, KIN, and Sharepoint. 'At Xbox, I saw studio after studio make the impossible choice between innovating freely and shipping globally,' Mongeau said. PCGamesN has promoted Jamie Hore to Deputy News Editor. Hore joined the publication in 2024 as News Writer, becoming Senior News Writer in April 2025. He previously worked for The Loadout for five years, starting as Staff Writer in 2019 and becoming Senior Staff Writer in 2020 and then Deputy Editor in 2021. 'I appreciate the show of faith from News Editor Lauren Bergin and look forward to helping push the news section forward,' Hore said. Charlotte Nangle has joined Kepler Interactive as PR and Communications Manager. Prior to this move, Nangle was Brand Manager at Cult Games (previously Neon Hive) for two years. Former Farm Heroes Saga General Manager Sabrina Carmona has joined Supercell as General Manager for Clash of Clans. Carmona joined King in 2016 as Midcore Producer, becoming New Games Producer for casual titles in 2018 and then Senior Producer for casual live games. Roblox has appointed Mike Schoelch as Head of Agency Partnerships. Schoelch was previously Head of Agency and Brand Partnerships at Unity Grow Programmatic Solutions for almost three years. 'I'm excited to begin my next chapter at Roblox as Head of Agency Partnerships, where I'll lead agency development efforts and strengthen Roblox's relationships across the agency and programmatic video ecosystem,' Schoelch said. Chris Rowe has joined Innovec Games as Business Development Director. Rowe was Studio Director at Atomhawk Canada for seven years, having joined the industry in 2008 as Associate Producer at Pivotal Games. Electronic Arts has hired John Blakely as Senior Development Director. Blakely is known for being the CEO and co-founder of Mutant Arm Studios and Barnyard Games, with over two decades of experience in the industry. Naughty Dog has appointed Shannon (Knepp) Leingang as Senior Communications Manager. Prior to joining the developer, Leingang worked at Golin for over five years, starting as Manager in 2018 and becoming Senior Manager in 2020 and then Director of Influencer Relations in 2022.