Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures in the video‑game sector can be a real challenge. That’s why we gather the most noteworthy movements into periodic round‑ups, giving industry professionals a single place to see who’s joining which studio and what new responsibilities they’ve taken on.
If you know of a recent appointment or a transition that belongs in this list, please forward the name, new title, company, and previous position 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 climbing the corporate ladder.
Prior to his current role, he spent seventeen 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 held a series of senior leadership positions, such as vice president and general manager for the EMEA, LATAM, and APAC regions. “I am grateful for my time at Wizards of the Coast and for the mentors who challenged, taught, and helped shape me into the leader I am today,” Trunk said.
“I have always believed that the most successful enterprises are built on great people, strong relationships, trust, and a sense of community. At Asmodee, those values intersect with something I care deeply about—a shared passion for games.
That makes this move feel personal, and it informs the way I intend to lead here.” In other news, David Scarborough has joined Blizzard Entertainment as senior manager of EMEA communications. Scarborough previously served as senior account director at Brands2Life and headed communications at Inflexion Games. His résumé also includes senior roles at Improbable and at Koch Media/Deep Silver, giving him a broad perspective on media strategy across multiple publishers. King has announced the return of Esther Lopez as a 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 left in 2022 to work at Meta as a real‑time VFX specialist focusing on VR‑AR experiences. “Coming back to a place I know so well, in a new capacity, is a rare privilege,” Lopez explained. “King is where I grew as an artist, and many of my best memories were made there, which makes this opportunity especially meaningful.
After nearly four years at Meta building immersive experiences, I hope to bring the best of that knowledge back with me.” Magda Marcinkowska has been named production manager in marketing at CD Projekt Red. Before this appointment, she acted as publishing operations director at Techland, where she oversaw the coordination of multiple titles from concept through launch. Linh Lai has secured a full‑time role as accounting assistant at Newzoo after completing a six‑month internship. “The experience I gained over the past half‑year helped me understand not only individual accounting processes but also how they fit into the broader business ecosystem,” Lai said.
“I am eager to take on greater responsibility, deepen my finance expertise, streamline our accounting workflows, 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 both mobile and console development pipelines. Christopher Holtorf is now senior quest designer at CD Projekt Red, after serving as senior narrative designer at Intrepid Studios where he helped craft storylines for several high‑profile RPG projects. Amir Satvat has taken the helm as general manager of 1Up Ventures.
Satvat formerly acted as business development director at Tencent Games and is also the founder of Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC), an initiative that assists job seekers in the gaming sector. “I wanted a role where I could see a direct link between my actions and the impact on a team, especially in helping people get back to work in the industry I love,” Satvat explained. “I hoped to support smaller studios because I’m passionate about games of that scale, and I wanted to be part of a community‑first environment.
Joining 1Up allowed me to realize all of those aspirations. 1Up is a crucial player in the games ecosystem, and I aim to help its unique investment approach endure for as long as possible.” Lasse Seppänen announced his departure from Supercell after a seven‑year stint.
He joined the company in 2019 as a producer, later moving into senior positions such as head of game production services and general manager for Supercell London. “It’s time for me to return to my passion for creating new game IPs,” Seppänen said. “I’ll stay in the UK, and in 2027 I plan to launch my own studio again—more details when the timing is right.” Take‑Two Interactive appointed Giles Derrington as director of global affairs for the UK.
Derrington previously led public affairs for TikTok in the United Kingdom, where he managed regulatory and policy engagement for the platform. Jess Pearce was promoted to senior people partner at Kepler Interactive. Pearce entered Kepler as a people advisor in 2022, progressed to people partner in 2024, and now oversees senior talent strategy across the rapidly expanding publisher. Shreya Godha received a promotion to producer at PlaySimple Games after serving as associate producer, where she coordinated cross‑functional teams on several mobile titles.
Epic Games named Kelly Ekins as director of communications. Ekins came to Epic after a senior director role in global PR for Unity’s 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, and joined Unity in 2018 as marketing lead for media and entertainment.
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 following the merger of their companies Bloodhouse and Terramarque. “Looking back, I feel immensely fortunate,” Kuittinen reflected. “We were in the right place at the right time for three decades of extraordinary industry growth, which allowed us to stay fiercely independent for 26 years before joining the PlayStation Studios family.” He added that the transition was carefully planned, noting that on July 1 Sami “Haxu” Hakala officially assumed the managing director role, with Kuittinen remaining available to ensure operational continuity.
“Housemarque’s strategy and creative vision are in excellent hands.” Tamara Feiman has been named chief executive officer of Lion Studios, the publishing arm of Tripledot Studios. Feiman previously served as publishing general manager, having started her career at Lion Studios in 2020 as EMEA business development lead.
“I joined Lion six years ago and have had the privilege of growing alongside the company through its biggest successes, challenges, and transformations,” Feiman said. “What makes Lion special is our collaborative approach with partner studios. Together we take risks, learn quickly, and turn great ideas into games played by millions. Lion has never been about one person; I’m fortunate to work with an incredible team across publishing, growth, product, engineering, and market intelligence, as well as talented studio partners worldwide.” Heather Sangria 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. Emily Rose Chen was promoted to senior product manager for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard, after beginning her tenure as a financial analyst in 2020 and later moving into product management. Scot McCarron earned a promotion 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 and later served as director of product management on the Call of Duty portfolio.
These announcements reflect the dynamic nature of talent movement within the gaming industry, highlighting both seasoned veterans taking on new challenges and emerging leaders stepping into influential roles. The continued flow of expertise across studios, publishers, and service providers underscores the sector’s resilience and its capacity for innovation as companies adapt to evolving market demands and consumer preferences.