Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures across the games sector can be a daunting task. To make it easier for industry observers, we gather the most noteworthy personnel moves into periodic round‑ups.
If your organization has experienced a significant staffing change that belongs in this list, please forward the name of the individual, their new title, the company they are joining, as well as their previous role 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’s relationship with Asmodee stretches back more than ten years, during which he has served as a trusted partner on a variety of strategic initiatives. Prior to re‑joining Asmodee, he spent 17 years at Wizards of the Coast, where his most recent responsibilities included overseeing commercial operations, digital‑games revenue streams, and the Wizards Play Network. At Wizards, he also held several 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 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 another notable appointment, 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, as well as leadership positions at Improbable and Koch Media/Deep Silver. His background in both agency and in‑house environments equips him to manage Blizzard’s messaging across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
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 join Meta as a real‑time VFX specialist working 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. Before this role, she served as acting publishing operations director at Techland, where she oversaw the coordination of multiple publishing pipelines and helped streamline cross‑functional workflows. Her experience in both production and marketing is expected to strengthen CD Projekt Red’s go‑to‑market strategies for upcoming titles. Linh Lai has transitioned from a six‑month internship to a full‑time accounting assistant position 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. She added that she looks forward to taking on greater responsibility, deepening her finance expertise, and finding ways to make Newzoo’s accounting operations even more efficient. 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, giving him a solid foundation in both mobile and console development pipelines.
Christopher Holtorf has been appointed senior quest designer at CD Projekt Red. Holtorf’s most recent position was senior narrative designer at Intrepid Studios, where he crafted story‑driven quest lines for large‑scale multiplayer experiences.
His narrative expertise is expected to enrich the storytelling depth of CD Projekt Red’s upcoming projects. Amir Satvat has taken on the role of general manager at 1Up Ventures. Satvat previously served as business development director at Tencent Games and is also the founder of 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.
"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." 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.
He plans to remain in the UK and aims to launch his own studio in 2027. Take‑Two Interactive has named Giles Derrington director of global affairs for the UK. Derrington previously headed public affairs at TikTok in the United Kingdom, bringing a strong background in regulatory and media relations to the role. Jess Pearce has been promoted 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 takes on a senior leadership position overseeing talent strategy across the organization. Shreya Godha has earned a promotion to producer at PlaySimple Games after serving as associate producer. In her new capacity, she will oversee end‑to‑end production cycles for the company’s mobile titles.
Epic Games appointed Kelly Ekins as director of communications. Ekins previously worked at Unity, where she was senior director of global PR for the Games and Made with Unity program. Before Unity, she spent time at Warner Brothers Games Montreal as studio lead for game marketing and communications, giving her a comprehensive view of both internal and external communications in the gaming world.
Housemarque co‑founder and managing director Ilari Kuittinen stepped down after 31 years with the studio. Kuittinen co‑founded Housemarque in 1995 after merging his company Bloodhouse with Harri Tikkanen’s Terramarque.
"Looking back, I feel immensely fortunate," he 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." The leadership transition at Housemarque was carefully planned.
On July 1, Sami “Haxu” Hakala officially assumed the managing director role, with Kuittinen remaining on‑hand to ensure a smooth handover and operational stability. Tamara Feiman has been appointed chief executive officer of Lion Studios, a division 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. 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." Heather Sangria has joined Sega of America as community manager.
Previously, she worked as a contract social strategist and community lead at One More Game and held a digital strategy and community management role at Undead Labs, giving her a strong foundation in building and nurturing player communities. 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 and now overseeing the flagship franchise’s product roadmap. Scot McCarron has advanced to senior director of product management for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard.
McCarron first arrived at Activision in 2018 as product marketing manager for emerging franchises, then served as director of product management on Call of Duty before earning his current senior director title. These moves collectively illustrate the dynamic nature of talent flow within the interactive entertainment sector, highlighting how seasoned professionals continue to shape the future of gaming through new challenges and leadership opportunities.