Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures in the video‑game sector can be a daunting task, which is why we gather the most noteworthy moves in periodic round‑ups. If you know of any leadership changes or new appointments that belong in this list, please forward the names, new titles, companies, and previous positions to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. Fandom has bolstered its senior management roster with three high‑profile hires and has also promoted a long‑standing veteran. Anita Butler now serves as Senior Vice President of Design & User Research.
Butler brings a rich background in consumer‑focused design, having previously held the EVP role for design and research at Nextdoor, served as Vice President of Consumer Design at Twitter, and acted as Chief Design Officer at Strava. Her expertise spans community‑centric product strategy, user‑experience research, and visual design leadership.
Damon Sicore joins Fandom as Chief Technology Officer and head of Fandom Labs. Sicore’s résumé includes senior engineering positions at both Wikipedia and Mozilla, where he oversaw the teams responsible for core web technologies such as Firefox, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. His deep technical knowledge and experience building large‑scale, open‑source platforms are expected to accelerate Fandom’s innovation pipeline. Peter Scanlon has been appointed Chief Marketing Officer.
Scanlon’s career includes senior marketing and product leadership at Google, Mozilla, and Monks, giving him a strong foundation in brand strategy, performance marketing, and community engagement. Together, these three executives bring fresh perspectives and extensive consumer‑platform expertise to Fandom’s leadership. In addition, Daniel Grunwell, a fifteen‑year Fandom veteran, has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Engineering. Grunwell will now oversee the company’s engineering and infrastructure divisions, ensuring that the technical backbone supporting millions of fan‑generated pages remains robust, scalable, and ready for future growth.
"Fandom rests on an extraordinary foundation – millions of passionate fans who have spent years building knowledge bases and communities around the things they love," said CEO Jay Sullivan. "Our mission is to expand on that foundation, giving fans even more ways to connect, discover, and participate. Daniel’s long tenure provides deep institutional knowledge, while Damon, Peter and Anita inject fresh ideas and consumer‑centric expertise.
With this leadership team, we are poised to develop the next generation of Fandom experiences." Other notable moves across the industry include Jonathan Knight’s appointment as Chief Games Officer at The New York Times. Knight previously served as Senior Vice President and head of games for the Times, where he led the acquisition and integration of the viral puzzle phenomenon Wordle.
Chase Shi has returned to Scopely as Vice President and Head of Game Product. Shi originally left Scopely in 2020 after serving as Senior Product Manager, then spent time as Director of Product Management at Jam City and later at Blizzard Entertainment, where he directed product efforts for Diablo.
Jonathan Marcelino joins Scopely as Director of Product after founding and serving as CEO of the hybrid‑casual studio Ritmo Games. Berkay Özer becomes Head of Studio at Fomo Games. Özer first joined the company in 2022 as a product specialist and team lead, left in 2025 for Loom Games, and now returns to steer Fomo’s studio operations. Peter Sydow moves to Arrowhead Game Studios as Head of Production, bringing senior producer experience from Massive Entertainment and PlayerUnknown Productions.
Ryan Ngoon receives a promotion to Game Designer at Blizzard Entertainment after starting as a quest‑design intern in 2023 and advancing to Associate Game Designer in 2024. Sarah Johnson is named Art Producer at Epic Games, having previously held producer roles at Bungie, Secret Dimension, Hangar 13, and Telltale Games. Brian Trunk steps into the role of Senior Vice President of Route to Market for the Americas at Asmodee. Trunk, a partner at Asmodee for over a decade, spent 17 years at Wizards of the Coast in senior commercial and digital‑games positions, including VP of the Wizards Play Network and regional GM responsibilities across EMEA, LATAM, and APAC.
"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 my love of games, making this move deeply personal." Rovio promotes Wille Miljas to Director of Product Marketing. Miljas, who joined Rovio in 2024 as Marketing Lead, previously headed marketing at Good Shepherd Entertainment and Redhill Games and served as Senior Marketing Manager for Planning and Strategy at Next Games.
Behaviour Interactive appoints Jameson Durall as Senior Design Director on the upcoming title Blight: Survival. Durall previously worked at Insomniac Games as an advanced senior game designer on Marvel’s Spider‑Man 2. Matt Dobill is promoted to Director of Applied AI at Epic Games, while also serving as Senior Counsel on technology and tools.
Joe Gabriel joins Unity as Senior Technical Production Manager for AndroidXR. Gabriel formerly led customer and developer success at Niantic Spatial and was Senior Developer Relations Manager at Niantic.
Erik Meurk advances to Senior Software Engineer at King. Meurk started as a Unity developer intern in August 2023, became an Associate Software Engineer in February 2024, and has since contributed to several high‑profile mobile titles.
Stéfanie Grandchamp‑Dubé is promoted to Lead UX Designer at Epic Games after joining as a Senior UX Designer in 2023, following a similar role at Behaviour Interactive. Jack Anderson signs with Rebellion as a VFX Artist, having previously held the same position at nDreams and Interior/Night. David Scarborough becomes Senior Manager of EMEA Communications at Blizzard Entertainment.
Scarborough’s prior experience includes senior account director at Brands2Life, head of communications at Inflexion Games, and leadership roles at Improbable and Koch Media/Deep Silver. King welcomes Esther Lopez as Principal VFX Artist. Lopez originally joined King in 2014 as a senior artist, rose to Associate Principal VFX Artist in 2020, left for Meta in 2022, and now returns to bring VR‑AR expertise back to King’s real‑time pipelines. Magda Marcinkowska is appointed Production Manager, 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 that the experience has deepened her understanding of how accounting processes integrate with broader business operations. Tommi Virolainen joins Kokoon Games as Senior Game Programmer, previously a tech programmer at Metacore and senior programming lead at Lightneer. Christopher Holtorf is named Senior Quest Designer at CD Projekt Red, having been Senior Narrative Designer at Intrepid Studios.
Amir Satvat joins 1Up Ventures as General Partner after a stint as Business Development Director at Tencent Games. Satvat also founded the community resource Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC), which helps job seekers enter the games industry.
He expressed a desire to connect his influence directly to helping people find work and to support smaller studios. Lasse Seppänen announces his departure from Supercell after seven years, during which he progressed from Producer (2019) to Head of Game Production Services and General Manager of Supercell London. He plans to launch his own studio in the UK in 2027. Take‑Two Interactive names Giles Derrington as Director of Global Affairs, UK, after previously heading public affairs for TikTok in the same region.
Jess Pearce is promoted to Senior People Partner at Kepler Interactive, having joined as a People Advisor in 2022 and moved to People Partner in 2024. Shreya Godha advances to Producer at PlaySimple Games, after serving as Associate Producer.
Epic Games appoints Kelly Ekins as Director of Communications. Ekins formerly held the Senior Director of Global PR role for Unity’s Games and Made with Unity program and earlier worked at Warner Brothers Games Montreal as Studio Lead for game marketing and communications.
Housemarque co‑founder and Managing Director Ilari Kuittinen steps down after 31 years. Kuittinen co‑founded the studio in 1995 following the merger of Bloodhouse and Terramarque. He praised the company’s independent spirit and noted a smooth transition to new Managing Director Sami “Haxu” Hakala. Tamara Feiman becomes CEO of Lion Studios, the publishing arm of Tripledot Studios.
Feiman started at Lion in 2020 as EMEA Business Development Lead, later becoming Publishing General Manager. She highlighted the collaborative culture and the studio’s focus on partnering with external developers to bring games to millions of players. 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 risen from Product Manager after joining as a Financial Analyst in 2020.
Scot McCarron advances to Senior Director of Product Management for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard, after serving as Director of Product Management on the franchise since joining in 2018 as a Product Marketing Manager for emerging titles. These appointments, promotions, and departures illustrate the dynamic nature of the games industry, where talent moves frequently, and companies continually reshape their leadership to adapt to evolving market demands and technological opportunities.