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 regularly compile these movements into concise round‑ups for industry insiders. If you know of a noteworthy appointment or transition that belongs in this list, please forward the name, new title, company, and previous role to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. This edition highlights a number of significant changes, beginning with a trio of senior hires at Fandom and the promotion of a long‑time veteran within the same organization.
Anita Butler has been named senior vice‑president of design & user research at Fandom. Butler arrives with a robust background in consumer‑focused design, having previously served as executive vice‑president of design and research at Nextdoor, as vice‑president of consumer design at Twitter, and as chief design officer at Strava. Her track record of building user‑centric experiences is expected to shape Fandom’s product roadmap and community tools.
Damon Sicore joins Fandom as chief technology officer and head of Fandom Labs. Sicore’s résumé includes 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 technical expertise and experience scaling open‑source platforms should help Fandom accelerate its innovation pipeline. Peter Scanlon steps into the role of chief marketing officer.
Scanlon brings executive marketing experience from stints at Google, Mozilla and Monks, where he led large‑scale brand and acquisition campaigns. At Fandom, he will be tasked with expanding the company’s reach and deepening engagement with the millions of fans who already contribute content to the platform.
In addition to these new arrivals, Daniel Grunwell has been promoted to senior vice‑president of engineering. Grunwell, a fifteen‑year Fandom veteran, will now oversee the engineering and infrastructure organization, ensuring the technical foundation remains robust as the company scales. "Fandom rests on an extraordinary foundation – millions of passionate fans who have spent years curating knowledge and building communities around the things they love," said CEO Jay Sullivan.
"Our mission is to build on that legacy and give fans even more ways to connect, discover and participate. Daniel’s deep institutional knowledge, combined with the fresh perspectives of Damon, Peter and Anita, gives us the right leadership mix to create the next generation of Fandom." Other notable moves 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 returns to Scopely as vice‑president and head of game product. Shi originally left Scopely in 2020 after serving as senior product manager, then held product leadership roles at Jam City and Blizzard Entertainment, where he directed product management for the Diablo franchise. Jonathan Marcelino has been named director of product at Scopely.
Marcelino previously founded and led the hybrid‑casual studio Ritmo Games, bringing entrepreneurial product experience to the role. Berkay Özer takes over as head of studio at Fomo Games.
Özer joined Fomo in 2022 as a product specialist and later led the product team before a brief stint at Loom Games as product manager in 2025. Peter Sydow joins Arrowhead Game Studios as head of production, after senior producer roles at Massive Entertainment and PlayerUnknown Productions.
Ryan Ngoon has been promoted to game designer at Blizzard Entertainment. Ngoon started as a quest‑design intern in 2023, progressed to associate game designer in 2024, and now contributes to the studio’s flagship titles. Sarah Johnson becomes an art producer at Epic Games, adding to her extensive background that includes producer positions at Bungie, Secret Dimension, Hangar 13 and Telltale Games. Brian Trunk has been appointed senior vice‑president of Route to Market for the Americas at Asmodee.
Trunk, a partner at Asmodee for over a decade, previously spent 17 years at Wizards of the Coast in senior commercial and digital‑games roles, including vice‑president and general‑manager responsibilities across EMEA, LATAM and APAC. "I’m grateful for my years at Wizards of the Coast and for the mentors who shaped me into the leader I am today," Trunk said.
"I’ve always believed that great businesses are built on strong people, relationships, trust and community. At Asmodee, those values intersect with my lifelong love of games, making this move deeply personal." Rovio has promoted 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 named Jameson Durall senior design director on Blight: Survival. Durall comes from Insomniac Games, where he was an advanced senior game designer on Marvel’s Spider‑Man 2. Matt Dobill has been elevated 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 Android XR. Gabriel previously led customer and developer success at Niantic Spatial and held senior developer‑relations responsibilities at Niantic.
Erik Meurk has been promoted to senior software engineer at King. Meurk entered King as a Unity developer intern in August 2023, became an associate software engineer in February 2024, and now contributes to the studio’s core engine work.
Stéfanie Grandchamp‑Dubé advances to lead UX designer at Epic Games. Grandchamp‑Dubé arrived at Epic in 2023 after serving as senior UX designer at Behaviour Interactive.
Jack Anderson joins Rebellion as a VFX artist, following similar positions at nDreams and Interior/Night. David Scarborough becomes senior manager of EMEA communications at Blizzard Entertainment.
His previous experience includes senior account director at Brands2Life and head of communications at Inflexion Games, plus senior roles at Improbable and Koch Media/Deep Silver. King appoints Esther Lopez as principal VFX artist. Lopez, a King veteran since 2014, rose from senior artist to associate principal VFX artist before a two‑year detour at Meta as a real‑time VFX specialist in VR/AR. She returns eager to blend her immersive‑experience expertise with King’s creative pipeline.
Magda Marcinkowska has been named 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.
Lai remarks that the rotation gave her insight into how individual accounting processes feed into broader business operations, and she looks forward to taking on greater responsibility. Tommi Virolainen joins Kokoon Games as senior game programmer, after tech‑programmer work at Metacore and senior programming roles at Lightneer. Christopher Holtorf is appointed senior quest designer at CD Projekt Red, previously senior narrative designer at Intrepid Studios.
Amir Satvat becomes a general partner at 1Up Ventures, after serving as business‑development director at Tencent Games and founding the community‑focused initiative Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC). Satvat expressed a desire to help more people secure jobs in the industry and to support smaller studios that align with his passion for indie‑scale games. Lasse Seppänen announces his departure from Supercell after seven years, during which he progressed from producer in 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 director of global affairs UK, after leading public‑affairs efforts at TikTok. 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 director of communications. Ekins previously held the senior director of global PR role for Unity’s Games and Made with Unity program, and before that was marketing lead for media and entertainment at Unity following 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 in 1995 after merging Bloodhouse and Terramarque. He praised the company’s independent spirit and noted that Sami “Haxu” Hakala has taken over as managing director, ensuring continuity. Tamara Feiman is appointed CEO of Lion Studios, the publishing arm of Tripledot Studios. Feiman began at Lion in 2020 as EMEA business‑development lead, later becoming publishing general manager.
She emphasizes the collaborative partnership model that has helped Lion launch games played by millions. Heather Sangria joins Sega of America as community manager, after contract work as a social strategist at One More Game and community management at Undead Labs. Emily Rose Chen is promoted to senior product manager for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard, after starting as a financial analyst in 2020 and moving into product management. Scot McCarron advances to senior director of product management for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard, having previously served as director of product management on the franchise and joining the company in 2018 as 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 meet evolving market demands and consumer expectations.