Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures across the games sector can be a daunting task. That’s why we publish periodic round‑ups that gather the most noteworthy personnel moves in one place. If you know of a change—whether it’s a new appointment, a transition to a different role, or a departure—please forward the relevant details (name, new title, new company, plus previous title and employer) to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. Brian Trunk has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Route‑to‑Market for the Americas at Asmodee.
Trunk’s relationship with Asmodee stretches back more than ten years, during which he served as a partner and helped shape the company’s strategic direction in several markets. Before re‑joining Asmodee, he spent 17 years at Wizards of the Coast, where his most recent responsibilities included Vice President of Commercial, Digital Games Revenue, and oversight of the Wizards Play Network. At Wizards, Trunk also held a series of senior leadership positions, such as Vice President and General Manager for the EMEA, LATAM, and APAC regions.
“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 come together 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 taken on the role of Senior Manager of EMEA Communications at Blizzard Entertainment.
Scarborough’s résumé includes senior account director duties at Brands2Life and a stint as head of communications for Inflexion Games. He has also held senior positions at Improbible and at Koch Media/Deep Silver, giving him a broad perspective on media strategy across both publishers and developers.
King Gaming 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 at Meta as a real‑time VFX art 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, Marketing at CD Projekt Red. Prior to this appointment, she acted as Publishing Operations Director at Techland, where she oversaw cross‑functional pipelines that linked development, localisation, and market rollout. Linh Lai secured a full‑time position 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 said.
“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 roles at Lightneer, where he contributed to several high‑profile mobile titles.
Christopher Holtorf was appointed Senior Quest Designer at CD Projekt Red. Before this, he served as Senior Narrative Designer at Intrepid Studios, where he helped craft storylines for large‑scale multiplayer experiences. Amir Satvat entered 1Up Ventures as General Manager.
Satvat’s most recent role before joining 1Up was Business Development Director at Tencent Games. He also founded and leads the Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC), a platform that assists job seekers in the gaming sector. “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 explained.
“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 advancing to 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 said. “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 appointed Giles Derrington as Director of Global Affairs, UK.
Derrington previously headed Public Affairs for TikTok in the United Kingdom, where he managed regulatory engagement and corporate communications. Jess Pearce earned a promotion to Senior People Partner at Kepler Interactive.
Pearce originally joined Kepler in 2022 as a People Advisor, moving to People Partner in 2024, and now oversees talent strategy for the fast‑growing independent publisher. Shreya Godha was elevated to Producer at PlaySimple Games after serving as Associate Producer. In her new capacity, she will lead cross‑functional teams responsible for bringing casual mobile titles from concept to launch.
Epic Games named Kelly Ekins as Director of Communications. Ekins came from Unity, where she was Senior Director of Global PR for the Games and Made with Unity program. Prior to Unity, she spent time at Warner Brothers Games Montreal as Studio Lead for Game Marketing and Communications, and she began her career at Unity in 2018 as Marketing Lead for Media and Entertainment. Ilari Kuittinen, co‑founder and Managing Director of Housemarque, stepped down after 31 years.
Kuittinen and Harri Tikkanen merged their companies Bloodhouse and Terramarque in 1995 to create Housemarque. “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 was appointed CEO of Tripledot Studios’ Lion Studios division. 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 took on the role of Community Manager at Sega of America. Sangria’s background includes contract work as a social strategist and community lead at One More Game, as well as a position as Digital Strategy and Community Manager at Undead Labs. Emily Rose Chen was promoted to Senior Product Manager for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard. Chen originally joined the company in 2020 as a Financial Analyst, later moving into product management before earning her current senior title.
Scot McCarron also received a promotion, becoming Senior Director of Product Management for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard. McCarron entered Activision in 2018 as Product Marketing Manager for emerging franchises and has since advanced through the product management hierarchy.
These appointments, promotions, and departures illustrate the dynamic nature of talent movement within the gaming industry, underscoring how experience across development, publishing, finance, and community engagement continues to shape the sector’s evolution.