Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions and departures in the games sector can be a challenge, which is why we publish periodic round‑ups of the most noteworthy movements. If you have news about a new appointment or a transition within your organization, please forward the individual's name, new title, company, as well as their previous position and employer to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. Brian Trunk has been elevated to Senior Vice President of Route‑to‑Market for the Americas at Asmodee. Trunk has been affiliated with Asmodee for more than ten years, initially joining as a partner.
Before that, he spent 17 years at Wizards of the Coast, where his most recent titles included Vice President of Commercial, Digital Games Revenue, and head of 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 a broad portfolio of products and market initiatives. "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 another update, David Scarborough has joined Blizzard Entertainment as Senior Manager of EMEA Communications.
Scarborough previously held the title of Senior Account Director at Brands2Life and led communications at Inflexion Games. His résumé also includes senior roles at Improbable and at Koch Media/Deep Silver, giving him a well‑rounded background in both agency and publisher environments. King has announced the return of Esther Lopez as Principal VFX Artist.
Lopez originally came to King in 2014 as a senior artist, earned a promotion to Associate Principal VFX Artist in 2020, and then departed 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. Before this appointment, she acted as Publishing Operations Director at Techland, where she oversaw the coordination of multiple publishing pipelines and helped streamline cross‑functional workflows. 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 joins Kokoon Games as Senior Game Programmer.
Virolainen previously worked as a Tech Programmer at Metacore and held senior programming and development positions at Lightneer, giving him a strong background in both mobile and console development pipelines. Christopher Holtorf has been appointed Senior Quest Designer at CD Projekt Red.
He formerly served as Senior Narrative Designer at Intrepid Studios, where he crafted story‑driven quest lines for several high‑profile titles. Amir Satvat steps into the role of General Manager at 1Up Ventures. Prior to this, Satvat was Business Development Director at Tencent Games and also founded Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC), a platform that helps job seekers find opportunities within 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 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 exit 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 has named Giles Derrington Director of Global Affairs, UK.
Derrington previously served as Head of Public Affairs, UK, at TikTok, where he managed regulatory and policy engagement across the region. Jess Pearce earned a promotion to Senior People Partner at Kepler Interactive.
Pearce started at Kepler in 2022 as a People Advisor, moved to People Partner in 2024, and now oversees senior talent strategy for the growing independent publisher. Shreya Godha has been promoted to Producer at PlaySimple Games after serving as Associate Producer, where she helped shepherd several mobile titles from concept through launch. Epic Games appointed 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.
Earlier in her career she worked at Warner Brothers Games Montreal as Studio Lead for Game Marketing and Communications. Ilari Kuittinen, co‑founder and Managing Director of Housemarque, is stepping down after 31 years. Kuittinen co‑founded the studio in 1995 alongside Harri Tikkanen 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 CEO of Lion Studios, the publishing arm of Tripledot Studios.
Feiman began her career at Lion 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 taken the role of Community Manager at 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 management position at Undead Labs.
Emily Rose Chen has been promoted to Senior Product Manager for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard, after joining the company as a Financial Analyst in 2020 and later serving as Product Manager. Scot McCarron has advanced to Senior Director of Product Management for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard.
McCarron originally joined Activision in 2018 as Product Marketing Manager for emerging franchises before moving into product management leadership roles on the Call of Duty portfolio.