Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures in the gaming sector can be a real challenge. That’s why we publish regular round‑ups that gather all the noteworthy 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 an exit—please forward the details (name, new title, company, and previous position) to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. Brian Trunk has been named senior vice president of Route‑to‑Market for the Americas at Asmodee.
Trunk has been a long‑time partner of the group, spending more than ten years helping to shape its strategy across multiple territories. Before joining Asmodee, he devoted 17 years to Wizards of the Coast, where his most recent responsibilities included overseeing commercial operations, digital‑games revenue streams, and the Wizards Play Network. During his tenure at Wizards, Trunk also served as vice‑president and general manager for the EMEA, LATAM, and APAC regions, gaining a truly global perspective on market development.
"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 previous roles as senior account director at Brands2Life, head of communications at Inflexion Games, and senior positions at Improbable and Koch Media/Deep Silver. King has announced the return of Esther Lopez as a principal VFX artist. Lopez originally joined King in 2014 as a senior artist, earned a promotion to associate principal VFX artist in 2020, and left in 2022 for Meta, where she worked as a real‑time VFX art specialist in the VR‑AR space. "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, after previously serving as acting publishing operations director at Techland.
Linh Lai has secured a full‑time position as accounting assistant at Newzoo following 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 joins Kokoon Games as a senior game programmer. He arrives from Metacore, where he was a tech programmer, and brings senior programming and development experience from Lightneer. Christopher Holtorf steps into the role of senior quest designer at CD Projekt Red, after serving as senior narrative designer at Intrepid Studios.
Amir Satvat has taken the helm as general manager of 1Up Ventures. Satvat previously worked as business development director at Tencent Games and is also the founder of Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC), a platform that helps job seekers find positions in 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," he 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 has announced his departure from Supercell after a seven‑year stint. He joined the firm in 2019 as a producer, later becoming 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 named Giles Derrington as director of global affairs UK.
Derrington previously led public affairs for TikTok in the UK. Jess Pearce has been promoted to senior people partner at Kepler Interactive, after joining as a people advisor in 2022 and moving to people partner in 2024.
Shreya Godha advances to producer at PlaySimple Games, having previously held the associate producer title at the same studio. Epic Games appoints 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, and before that she led marketing for media and entertainment at Unity after a stint at Warner Brothers Games Montreal. Housemarque co‑founder and managing director Ilari Kuittinen steps down after 31 years. Kuittinen co‑founded the studio with Harri Tikkanen in 1995 following the merger of their companies Bloodhouse and 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.
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 Tripledot Studios' Lion 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 joins Sega of America as community manager. She 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 has been promoted to senior product manager for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard, after starting as a financial analyst in 2020 and later serving as product manager. Scot McCarron moves up to senior director of product management for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard, having joined the company in 2018 as product marketing manager for emerging franchises and later serving as director of product management on the franchise. These appointments, promotions, and departures illustrate the dynamic nature of the video‑game industry, where talent frequently shifts between studios, publishers, and service providers, bringing fresh perspectives and new energy to each organization.