Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures across the games sector can be a real challenge. That’s why we put together periodic round‑ups that capture the most notable moves in one place.
If you know of a transition that belongs in this list—whether it’s a new appointment, a role change, or a departure—please forward the details (name, new position, company, and previous role/company) 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 time he has acted as a trusted partner on numerous initiatives. Before re‑joining Asmodee, he spent 17 years at Wizards of the Coast, where his most recent title was vice president of commercial, digital games revenue, and the Wizards Play Network.
At Wizards, Trunk also served as vice president and general manager for three major regions—EMEA, LATAM, and APAC—overseeing both product strategy and market execution. “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 intersect 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 his previous roles as senior account director at Brands2Life and head of communications at Inflexion Games, as well as senior positions at Improbable and Koch Media/Deep Silver. His expertise in cross‑regional messaging and brand storytelling is expected to bolster Blizzard’s presence across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
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 at 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 appointed production manager in marketing at CD Projekt Red. Marcinkowska previously acted as publishing operations director at Techland, where she oversaw the coordination of multiple titles from concept through launch. Her new responsibilities will include aligning marketing pipelines, supervising creative assets, and ensuring that promotional campaigns hit key milestones for upcoming releases.
Linh Lai has moved from a six‑month internship to a full‑time accounting assistant role at Newzoo. “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’s background includes a stint as a tech programmer at Metacore and senior programming and development positions at Lightneer, where he helped build scalable networked systems for mobile titles.
At Kokoon, he will focus on optimizing audio‑driven gameplay mechanics and expanding the studio’s proprietary engine. Christopher Holtorf has been named senior quest designer at CD Projekt Red. Holtorf previously worked as a senior narrative designer at Intrepid Studios, contributing to story‑driven quest lines for several high‑profile RPGs. In his new role, he will craft intricate quest arcs for the next installment of CD Projekt Red’s flagship series, balancing player agency with compelling plot twists.
Amir Satvat has taken the helm as general manager of 1Up Ventures. Satvat comes from a business‑development director position at Tencent Games and is also the founder of Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC), a platform that helps industry professionals find new employment opportunities.
“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.” He added that 1Up’s unique investment approach is vital to the broader ecosystem and that he hopes to help it endure for as long as possible. Lasse Seppänen announced his departure from Supercell after a seven‑year tenure.
He joined the company in 2019 as a producer and later served 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 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 has appointed Giles Derrington as director of global affairs for the UK. Derrington previously led public affairs at TikTok in the United Kingdom, where he managed regulatory relationships and government engagement.
At Take‑Two, he will oversee policy advocacy, corporate communications, and stakeholder outreach across the region. Jess Pearce has been promoted to senior people partner at Kepler Interactive. Pearce started at Kepler as a people advisor in 2022, moved to people partner in 2024, and now takes on a senior leadership role overseeing talent acquisition, employee development, and cultural initiatives across the company’s global studios.
Shreya Godha earned a promotion to producer at PlaySimple Games after serving as associate producer. In her new capacity, Godha will lead cross‑functional teams responsible for mobile puzzle titles, handling everything from concept design to post‑launch analytics. Epic Games has named Kelly Ekins as director of communications.
Ekins previously held the senior director of global PR position for Unity’s Games and Made with Unity program, after joining Unity in 2018 as marketing lead for media and entertainment. Before Unity, she spent time at Warner Brothers Games Montreal as studio lead for game marketing and communications.
At Epic, she will shape the narrative around the company’s flagship franchises and emerging technologies. Housemarque co‑founder and managing director Ilari Kuittinen is stepping down after 31 years. Kuittinen co‑founded the studio with Harri Tikkanen in 1995 following the merger of their companies Bloodhouse and Terramarque.
Reflecting on his tenure, Kuittinen said, “Looking back, I feel immensely fortunate. 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.” He added that the transition plan is complete, with Sami ‘Haxu’ Hakala officially taking over as managing director on July 1, and Kuittinen remaining available to ensure operational continuity. Tamara Feiman has been appointed chief executive officer of Tripledot Studios’ Lion 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.
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. 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 joined Sega of America as community manager.
Sangria previously 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. At Sega, she will oversee community engagement for flagship franchises, coordinate fan events, and drive social media strategy. Emily Rose Chen has been 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 where she helped define feature roadmaps and monetization strategies for the franchise. Scot McCarron has been elevated to senior director of product management for Call of Duty, also at Activision Blizzard.
McCarron started at Activision in 2018 as a product marketing manager for emerging franchises, then progressed to director of product management on Call of Duty before assuming his new senior director responsibilities. These appointments, promotions, and departures illustrate the dynamic nature of the gaming industry, where talent moves fluidly between development studios, publishers, and service providers. Each individual brings a unique blend of experience and vision that will shape the next wave of games, community initiatives, and business strategies across the sector.