Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures across the games sector can be a real challenge, which is why we publish periodic round‑ups that capture the most noteworthy moves. If you know of any leadership changes or new appointments that belong in this list, please forward the name, new title, company, as well as the previous role and employer to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. Fandom announced a significant expansion of its senior leadership, bringing three external veterans onto its executive team while also promoting a long‑time insider. Anita Butler has been named Senior Vice President of Design & User Research.
Butler arrives from a distinguished career that includes serving as EVP of Design and Research at Nextdoor, VP of Consumer Design at Twitter, and Chief Design Officer at Strava, giving her a deep background in consumer‑focused design strategy. Damon Sicore joins as 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 Firefox, as well as core web standards such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.
Peter Scanlon has been appointed Chief Marketing Officer, bringing executive experience from stints at Google, Mozilla, and Monks. In addition, Daniel Grunwell, a fifteen‑year veteran of Fandom, has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Engineering.
In his new role Grunwell will supervise the company’s engineering and infrastructure divisions, ensuring the platform scales to support its massive fan community. "Fandom rests on an extraordinary foundation – millions of enthusiasts who have spent years curating knowledge and building communities around the things they love," said CEO Jay Sullivan.
"Our mission now is to expand on that legacy, giving fans even more ways to connect, discover and participate. Daniel’s deep tenure gives us continuity, while Damon, Peter and Anita inject fresh perspectives and deep consumer‑platform expertise. Together we have the right team to build the next generation of Fandom." Other notable moves include Jonathan Knight’s appointment as Chief Games Officer at The New York Times. Knight previously held the SVP role heading the games division and led the acquisition and integration of the viral puzzle Wordle.
Chase Shi has returned to Scopely as Vice President and Head of Game Product after a period away; Shi originally left Scopely in 2020 as a senior product manager, later directed product at Jam City and served as Director of Product Management for Diablo at Blizzard Entertainment. Jonathan Marcelino has been named 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 joined the company in 2022 as a product specialist, later leading the product team, before a brief stint at Loom Games as a product manager in 2025.
Peter Sydow has become Head of Production at Arrowhead Game Studios after senior producer roles at Massive Entertainment and PlayerUnknown Productions. Ryan Ngoon earned a promotion to Game Designer at Blizzard Entertainment; he began as a quest‑design intern in 2023 and progressed to associate game designer the following year. Sarah Johnson joins Epic Games as an Art Producer, bringing prior production experience from Bungie, Secret Dimension, Hangar 13, and Telltale Games.
Brian Trunk has been named 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 where he held multiple senior commercial and regional leadership positions.
Rovio promoted Wille Miljas to Director of Product Marketing. Miljas, who entered Rovio in 2024 as a 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 added Jameson Durall as Senior Design Director on the upcoming title Blight: Survival. Durall’s background includes a senior game‑design role on Marvel’s Spider‑Man 2 at Insomniac Games. Matt Dobill was elevated to Director of Applied AI at Epic Games, where he also acts as senior counsel on technology and tools. Unity welcomed Joe Gabriel as Senior Technical Production Manager for AndroidXR.
Gabriel previously led customer and developer success at Niantic Spatial and held senior developer‑relations responsibilities at Niantic. King promoted Erik Meurk to Senior Software Engineer. Meurk began his King career as a Unity development intern in August 2023, becoming an associate software engineer in early 2024. Stéfanie Grandchamp‑Dubé advanced 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 joined Rebellion as a VFX Artist, after comparable positions at nDreams and Interior/Night. David Scarborough took a senior manager role overseeing EMEA communications at Blizzard Entertainment, having previously held senior account and communications positions at Brands2Life, Inflexion Games, Improbable, and Koch Media/Deep Silver. King also announced Esther Lopez as Principal VFX Artist.
Lopez originally joined King in 2014 as a senior artist, rose to associate principal VFX artist in 2020, and later spent two years at Meta as a real‑time VFX specialist for VR/AR before returning to King, describing the move as a rare privilege. Magda Marcinkowska was appointed Production Manager, Marketing at CD Projekt Red after serving as Acting Publishing Operations Director at Techland. Linh Lai began a full‑time role as Accounting Assistant at Newzoo following a six‑month internship, expressing enthusiasm for deeper involvement in finance processes.
Tommi Virolainen joined Kokoon Games as a Senior Game Programmer, after technical programming work at Metacore and senior programming roles at Lightneer. Christopher Holtorf became Senior Quest Designer at CD Projekt Red, previously senior narrative designer at Intrepid Studios.
Amir Satvat entered 1Up Ventures as a General Partner. Satvat formerly directed business development at Tencent Games and founded the community‑focused initiative Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC), which helps industry professionals find new opportunities. He emphasized his desire to connect directly with teams and support smaller studios.
Lasse Seppänen announced his departure from Supercell after seven years, during which he progressed from producer 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 appointed Giles Derrington as Director of Global Affairs, UK, after serving as Head of Public Affairs at TikTok. Jess Pearce was promoted to Senior People Partner at Kepler Interactive, having joined as a People Advisor in 2022. Shreya Godha advanced to Producer at PlaySimple Games, moving up from associate producer. Epic Games named Kelly Ekins as Director of Communications; Ekins previously held senior PR leadership at Unity and marketing roles at Warner Brothers Games Montreal.
Housemarque co‑founder and Managing Director Ilari Kuittinen stepped down after 31 years. Kuittinen, who co‑founded the studio in 1995 following the merger of Bloodhouse and Terramarque, reflected on three decades of growth and the recent transition to PlayStation Studios, noting that Sami “Haxu” Hakala has taken over day‑to‑day leadership. Tamara Feiman was appointed CEO of Lion Studios, a division of Tripledot Studios.
Feiman began at Lion in 2020 as EMEA Business Development Lead and later became Publishing General Manager, highlighting the collaborative culture that has enabled the studio to launch games enjoyed by millions. Heather Sangria joined 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 was promoted to Senior Product Manager for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard, having risen from a financial analyst role in 2020 to product manager.
Finally, Scot McCarron earned a promotion to Senior Director of Product Management for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard, after serving as Director of Product Management for the franchise and joining the company in 2018 as a product marketing manager for emerging titles. These appointments, promotions, and departures illustrate the dynamic nature of talent movement within the gaming industry, reflecting both the maturation of established companies and the emergence of new leadership perspectives that will shape the next wave of interactive entertainment.