Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures across the video‑game sector can be a daunting task, which is why we publish periodic round‑ups that capture the most noteworthy moves. If your organization has recent staffing changes that merit inclusion, please forward the name, new title, new employer, as well as the previous position and company to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. Brian Trunk has been promoted to senior vice president of Route‑to‑Market for the Americas at Asmodee. Trunk has been associated with Asmodee for more than ten years, initially joining as a partner and later taking on a variety of strategic responsibilities.
Before his current appointment, he spent seventeen years at Wizards of the Coast, where his most recent title was vice president of commercial, digital games revenue, and the Wizards Play Network. During his tenure at Wizards, he also served as vice president and general manager for the EMEA, LATAM, and APAC regions, overseeing sales, marketing, and operational functions across those territories. "I’m grateful for my years at Wizards of the Coast and for the people who challenged, taught, and shaped me into the leader I am today," Trunk said. "I’ve always believed the most successful businesses are built on great people, strong relationships, trust, and community.
At Asmodee, those values converge with something else I care deeply about: a shared love of games. That’s why this move feels personal, and it’s at the heart of how I want to lead here." In other news, David Scarborough has joined Blizzard Entertainment as senior manager of EMEA communications. Scarborough brings a wealth of experience from previous senior roles, including senior account director at Brands2Life and head of communications at Inflexion Games. He has also held leadership positions at Improbable and at Koch Media/Deep Silver, giving him a broad perspective on brand storytelling and media relations across multiple gaming markets.
King has announced the return of Esther Lopez as principal VFX artist. Lopez originally joined King in 2014 as a senior artist, earned a promotion to associate principal VFX artist in 2020, and then left in 2022 to work for Meta as a real‑time VFX specialist focusing on VR‑AR experiences. "Coming back to somewhere I know well, in a new role, is a rare kind of privilege," Lopez explained.
"King is where I grew up as an artist, and where some of my best memories were made, making this opportunity even more special. After almost four years at Meta building immersive experiences, I hope I can bring the best of that back with me." Magda Marcinkowska has been named production manager in marketing at CD Projekt Red. Prior to this appointment, Marcinkowska acted as publishing operations director at Techland, where she coordinated release schedules, localized assets, and cross‑functional communication between development and marketing teams. Linh Lai has secured a full‑time role as accounting assistant at Newzoo after completing a six‑month internship.
"The experiences I’ve gained throughout these six months have helped me better understand not only how individual accounting processes work, but also how they connect to the wider business," Lai remarked. "I’m excited to take on more responsibility, deepen my accounting and finance knowledge, find more ways to make our accounting processes even more efficient, and contribute more to the team as I grow with Newzoo." Tommi Virolainen has joined Kokoon Games as a senior game programmer. Virolainen previously worked as a tech programmer at Metacore and held senior programming and development positions at Lightneer, giving him a solid background in engine optimization and cross‑platform development.
Christopher Holtorf has been appointed senior quest designer at CD Projekt Red. Before joining CD Projekt Red, Holtorf served as senior narrative designer at Intrepid Studios, where he crafted branching storylines and integrated gameplay mechanics with compelling lore.
Amir Satvat has taken the role of general manager at 1Up Ventures. Satvat formerly acted as business development director for Tencent Games and is also the founder of Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC), an initiative that helps job seekers connect with opportunities in the industry. "I wanted to feel a more direct connection between the things I could influence and do with a team and putting people back to work," Satvat said.
"I wanted to see more people's dreams of making games come true because of something I did. I also hoped I could work in a setting focused on smaller studios, because I love games of that size so much, and in a setting built around community first. My final wish was to work with colleagues who share the same values and integrity I try to hold myself to.
In accepting the team’s invitation to join 1Up, I am seeing all of these wishes realised. 1Up is a very important player in the games ecosystem, and I want to see its unique approach to games investing survive for as long as possible." Lasse Seppänen announced his departure from Supercell after a seven‑year tenure. He joined Supercell in 2019 as a producer, later moving into senior positions such as head of game production services and general manager for Supercell London.
"Now it’s time to follow my passion for creating new game IPs again," Seppänen explained. "I’m staying in the UK, and in 2027 I’m planning to start my own studio once again – more on that when the time is right." Take‑Two Interactive has named Giles Derrington director of global affairs for the UK. Derrington previously served as head of public affairs UK at TikTok, where he managed regulatory engagement and corporate communications across Europe. Jess Pearce has been promoted to senior people partner at Kepler Interactive.
Pearce joined Kepler as a people advisor in 2022, progressed to people partner in 2024, and now oversees talent strategy, employee relations, and leadership development for the fast‑growing publisher. Shreya Godha has been elevated to producer at PlaySimple Games after serving as associate producer.
In her new capacity, Godha will oversee project timelines, coordinate cross‑functional teams, and ensure that design and monetisation goals align with the company’s mobile‑first strategy. Epic Games appointed Kelly Ekins as director of communications. Ekins previously held the senior director of global PR role for Unity’s Games and Made with Unity program, and before that she was marketing lead for media and entertainment at Unity. Earlier in her career she worked at Warner Brothers Games Montreal as studio lead for game marketing and communications, giving her a deep understanding of both developer‑focused and consumer‑facing messaging.
Housemarque co‑founder and managing director Ilari Kuittinen stepped down after 31 years at the studio. Kuittinen co‑founded Housemarque with Harri Tikkanen in 1995 after merging their companies Bloodhouse and Terramarque. "Looking back, I feel immensely fortunate," Kuittinen reflected. "We had the luck of being in the right place at the right time during three decades of incredible industry growth, allowing us to stay fiercely independent for 26 years before finding a home within the PlayStation Studios family.
We have been planning this leadership transition carefully behind the scenes. On July 1, Sami ‘Haxu’ Hakala officially stepped into the managing director role, and I have continued supporting him and the leadership team until today to ensure complete operational continuity and stability. Housemarque’s strategy and creative vision are in exceptional hands." Tamara Feiman has been appointed chief executive officer of Lion Studios, the publishing arm of Tripledot Studios. Feiman began her career at Lion Studios in 2020 as EMEA business development lead, later becoming publishing general manager.
"I joined Lion six years ago," she said. "Since then, I've had the privilege of growing alongside the company through its biggest successes, challenges and transformations.
But what has always made Lion special is how we work with our partner studios. Together, we've taken risks, learned quickly and turned great ideas into games played by millions. And Lion has never been about one person. I'm fortunate to work alongside an incredible team across publishing, growth, product, engineering and market intelligence, as well as our talented studio partners around the world." Heather Sangria has become community manager for Sega of America.
Previously, she worked as a contract social strategist and community lead at One More Game and held a digital strategy and community manager role at Undead Labs, where she built fan engagement programs and oversaw social‑media initiatives. Emily Rose Chen has been promoted to senior product manager for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard.
Chen started at the company in 2020 as a financial analyst, moved into product management, and now leads feature prioritisation, live‑ops coordination, and cross‑studio collaboration for the franchise. Scot McCarron has been elevated to senior director of product management for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard. McCarron joined Activision in 2018 as product marketing manager for emerging franchises, later becoming director of product management on Call of Duty before assuming his new senior director responsibilities, where he will steer roadmap strategy and oversee a large team of product managers and analysts. These appointments, promotions, and departures illustrate the dynamic nature of talent movement within the games industry, highlighting how experience across multiple regions, platforms, and disciplines continues to shape the sector’s evolution.