September 2026 Jobs Summary – Fandom Grows Its Executive Team

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 regularly compile these movements into concise round‑ups.

If you know of any new appointments or role changes that belong in this list, please forward the name, new title, company, and previous position to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. This edition highlights a substantial expansion of Fandom’s senior leadership, as well as a slew of notable moves at other prominent studios and publishers.

**Fandom’s Executive Additions** - **Anita Butler** has been named Senior Vice President of Design & User Research. Butler arrives with a distinguished background that includes serving as EVP of Design and Research at Nextdoor, a stint as Vice President of Consumer Design at Twitter, and a tenure as Chief Design Officer at Strava. Her expertise spans community‑centric product design, data‑driven research, and building intuitive user experiences for massive audiences.

- **Damon Sicore** steps into the role of Chief Technology Officer and head of Fandom Labs. Sicore’s résumé features senior engineering leadership at both Wikipedia and Mozilla, where he oversaw the teams responsible for core web technologies such as Firefox, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. His deep understanding of open‑source ecosystems and platform scalability is expected to accelerate Fandom’s technical roadmap. - **Peter Scanlon** joins as Chief Marketing Officer.

Scanlon brings executive experience from Google, Mozilla, and Monks, having led large‑scale brand and acquisition campaigns. His track record in growth marketing and community engagement should help Fandom broaden its reach among fans worldwide. - **Daniel Grunwell**, a fifteen‑year veteran of the company, has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Engineering. In his new capacity Grunwell will oversee all engineering and infrastructure functions, ensuring that the platform remains reliable, performant, and ready for future feature expansion.

Fandom CEO Jay Sullivan summed up the changes: “We have an incredible foundation – millions of fans who have spent years building knowledge and communities around the things they love. Our opportunity is to build on that and give fans even more ways to connect, discover and participate.

Daniel’s long tenure at Fandom brings a deep understanding of our roots and what makes our communities special, while Damon, Pete and Anita bring fresh perspectives and deep consumer and platform expertise. Together, we have the right team to build the next generation of Fandom.” **Key Appointments Across the Industry** - **Jonathan Knight** becomes Chief Games Officer at The New York Times.

Knight previously served as Senior Vice President and head of games, where he led the acquisition and integration of the wildly popular Wordle puzzle. - **Chase Shi** returns to Scopely as Vice President and Head of Game Product. After leaving Scopely in 2020, Shi held product leadership roles at Jam City and Blizzard Entertainment, where he directed product management for the Diablo franchise. - **Jonathan Marcelino** is appointed Director of Product at Scopely, having founded and served as CEO of the hybrid‑casual studio Ritmo Games.

- **Berkay Özer** takes the helm as Head of Studio at Fomo Games. Özer originally joined Fomo in 2022 as a product specialist, later leading the product team before a brief stint at Loom Games as product manager.

- **Peter Sydow** joins Arrowhead Game Studios as Head of Production, bringing senior producing experience from Massive Entertainment and PlayerUnknown Productions. - **Ryan Ngoon** is promoted to Game Designer at Blizzard Entertainment after progressing from an internship quest‑design role in 2023 to associate game designer in 2024. - **Sarah Johnson** becomes an Art Producer at Epic Games.

Her previous production credits include positions at Bungie, Secret Dimension, Hangar 13, and Telltale Games. - **Brian Trunk** assumes the role of Senior Vice President of Route to Market for the Americas at Asmodee.

Trunk has been a partner at Asmodee for over a decade and spent 17 years at Wizards of the Coast, where he held senior commercial and regional leadership positions. - **Wille Miljas** is promoted to Director of Product Marketing at Rovio, after joining the company in 2024 as Marketing Lead. Prior to Rovio, Miljas led marketing at Good Shepherd Entertainment and Redhill Games, and worked on planning and strategy at Next Games. - **Jameson Durall** joins Behaviour Interactive as Senior Design Director on *Blight: Survival*, having previously contributed as an advanced senior game designer on *Marvel’s Spider‑Man 2* at Insomniac Games.

- **Matt Dobill** is elevated to Director of Applied AI at Epic Games, while also serving as Senior Counsel on Technology and Tools. - **Joe Gabriel** becomes Senior Technical Production Manager for AndroidXR at Unity. Gabriel’s background includes heading customer and developer success at Niantic Spatial and managing developer relations at Niantic. - **Erik Meurk** is promoted to Senior Software Engineer at King.

He entered King as a Unity development intern in 2023, quickly advancing to associate software engineer. - **Stéfanie Grandchamp‑Dubé** moves up to Lead UX Designer at Epic Games, after joining the studio in 2023 as a senior UX designer following a similar role at Behaviour Interactive.

- **Jack Anderson** joins Rebellion as a VFX Artist, having previously held the same position at nDreams and Interior/Night. - **David Scarborough** takes a senior managerial role overseeing EMEA communications at Blizzard Entertainment. His prior experience includes senior account direction at Brands2Life and communications leadership at Inflexion Games, Improbable, and Koch Media/Deep Silver.

- **Esther Lopez** returns to King as Principal VFX Artist. Lopez’s career at King began in 2014; after a period at Meta focusing on real‑time VR/AR VFX, she expressed excitement about bringing immersive expertise back to her original studio. - **Magda Marcinkowska** is appointed Production Manager in Marketing at CD Projekt Red, after serving as Acting Publishing Operations Director at Techland.

- **Linh Lai** becomes Accounting Assistant at Newzoo following a six‑month internship, noting how the experience has broadened her understanding of accounting workflows within a larger business context. - **Tommi Virolainen** joins Kokoon Games as Senior Game Programmer, after senior programming stints at Metacore and Lightneer.

- **Christopher Holtorf** is named Senior Quest Designer at CD Projekt Red, previously senior narrative designer at Intrepid Studios. - **Amir Satvat** joins 1Up Ventures as General Partner.

Before this, Satvat was Business Development Director at Tencent Games and founded the community‑focused initiative Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC). He emphasized his desire to help people find jobs in the industry and to support smaller studios. - **Lasse Seppänen** announces his departure from Supercell after seven years, citing a desire to return to creating new IPs and a plan to launch his own studio in the UK in 2027. - **Giles Derrington** is appointed Director of Global Affairs UK at Take‑Two Interactive, after serving as Head of Public Affairs UK at TikTok.

- **Jess Pearce** is promoted to Senior People Partner at Kepler Interactive, having joined the company as a People Advisor in 2022. - **Shreya Godha** moves up to Producer at PlaySimple Games, after working as an Associate Producer.

- **Kelly Ekins** becomes Director of Communications at Epic Games. Ekins previously held the senior director role for global PR within Unity’s Games and Made with Unity program, and before that led marketing for Warner Brothers Games Montreal. - **Ilari Kuittinen**, co‑founder and Managing Director of Housemarque, steps down after 31 years.

Kuittinen co‑founded the studio in 1995 following the merger of Bloodhouse and Terramarque. He praised the company’s independence and noted that Sami “Haxu” Hakala has taken over as Managing Director, ensuring a smooth transition. - **Tamara Feiman** is named CEO of Lion Studios, the publishing arm of Tripledot Studios.

Feiman started at Lion in 2020 as EMEA Business Development Lead and has risen through the ranks to oversee publishing, growth, product, engineering, and market intelligence. - **Heather Sangria** joins Sega of America as Community Manager, after contract work as a social strategist at One More Game and a digital strategy role at Undead Labs. - **Emily Rose Chen** is promoted to Senior Product Manager for *Call of Duty* at Activision Blizzard, having moved from a financial analyst role in 2020 to product management.

- **Scot McCarron** advances to Senior Director of Product Management for *Call of Duty* at Activision Blizzard, after joining the company in 2018 as a product marketing manager for emerging franchises. These appointments, promotions, and departures illustrate the dynamic nature of talent movement within the gaming ecosystem. Companies continue to attract seasoned veterans while also elevating internal talent, reflecting both the need for fresh perspectives and the value of deep institutional knowledge. The influx of leaders with backgrounds in consumer tech, open‑source development, and traditional game studios suggests a convergence of expertise that will shape the next wave of interactive entertainment.