September 2026 Jobs Summary – Fandom Grows Its Executive Team

Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures in the video‑game sector can be a daunting task. That’s why we gather the most noteworthy personnel moves into periodic round‑ups for the community. If you know of a recent appointment or transition that belongs in this list, please forward the name, new title, company, and previous role to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. In this edition, Fandom announced three senior additions to its leadership cadre while also promoting a long‑time veteran.

The company also highlighted a host of other moves across the industry, ranging from executive hires at major publishers to promotions within development studios. **Fandom’s New Executive Appointments** - **Anita Butler – Senior Vice President, Design & User Research**.

Butler arrives with a résumé 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 lies in shaping user‑centric experiences and guiding large‑scale research programs. - **Damon Sicore – Chief Technology Officer & Head of Fandom Labs**. Sicore brings deep engineering leadership from his time at both Wikipedia and Mozilla, where he oversaw the teams responsible for Firefox, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.

At Fandom, he will steer the technical roadmap and head the experimental lab that explores new platform capabilities. - **Peter Scanlon – Chief Marketing Officer**. Scanlon joins after holding senior marketing roles at Google, Mozilla, and a company called Monks. He is tasked with expanding Fandom’s brand reach and deepening engagement with its massive fan communities.

- **Daniel Grunwell – Senior Vice President of Engineering** (promotion). A fifteen‑year veteran of Fandom, Grunwell now oversees the engineering and infrastructure organization, ensuring the platform remains reliable and scalable as its user base continues to grow.

Jay Sullivan, CEO of Fandom, summed up the strategic intent: “Fandom sits on 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 new perspectives and deep consumer and platform expertise. Together, we have the right team to build the next generation of Fandom.” **Other Notable Executive Moves** - **Jonathan Knight – Chief Games Officer, The New York Times**. Knight previously served as Senior Vice President, Head of Games, where he led the acquisition and integration of the viral puzzle phenomenon Wordle. - **Chase Shi – Vice President, Head of Game Product, Scopely**.

Shi returns to Scopely after a series of product leadership roles at Jam City and Blizzard Entertainment, where he contributed to the Diablo franchise. - **Jonathan Marcelino – Director of Product, Scopely**. Marcelino is the founder and former CEO of the hybrid‑casual studio Ritmo Games, bringing indie‑scale agility to Scopely’s product pipeline. - **Berkay Özer – Head of Studio, Fomo Games**.

Özer, who joined Fomo in 2022 as a product specialist and later led the product team, spent a year at Loom Games before returning to steer Fomo’s studio operations. - **Peter Sydow – Head of Production, Arrowhead Game Studios**. Sydow’s background includes senior producer positions at Massive Entertainment and PlayerUnknown Productions, giving him a strong track record in delivering live‑service titles. - **Ryan Ngoon – Game Designer, Blizzard Entertainment (promotion)**.

Starting as a quest‑design intern in 2023, Ngoon advanced to associate game designer in 2024 and now holds a full designer role. - **Sarah Johnson – Art Producer, Epic Games**. Johnson’s previous production experience spans Bungie, Secret Dimension, Hangar 13, and Telltale Games, positioning her to support Epic’s ambitious visual pipelines.

- **Brian Trunk – Senior Vice President, Route to Market – Americas, Asmodee**. After more than a decade as a partner at Asmodee and 17 years at Wizards of the Coast—including VP of commercial, digital games revenue, and leadership of the Wizards Play Network—Trunk emphasizes that “the most successful businesses are built on great people, strong relationships, trust and community.” He sees his new role as a chance to blend those values with his lifelong passion for games. - **Wille Miljas – Director of Product Marketing, Rovio**.

Miljas, who joined 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. - **Jameson Durall – Senior Design Director on *Blight: Survival*, Behaviour Interactive**. Durall’s prior work includes senior game design on Marvel’s *Spider‑Man 2* at Insomniac Games, bringing high‑profile AAA experience to the survival‑horror project.

- **Matt Dobill – Director of Applied AI, Epic Games (promotion)**. In addition to leading applied AI initiatives, Dobill serves as senior counsel on technology and tools, bridging creative and technical teams. - **Joe Gabriel – Senior Technical Production Manager, AndroidXR, Unity**.

Gabriel previously directed customer and developer success at Niantic Spatial and managed developer relations at Niantic, positioning him to advance Unity’s XR strategy. - **Erik Meurk – Senior Software Engineer, King (promotion)**.

Starting as a Unity intern in 2023, Meurk progressed to associate software engineer in early 2024 and now holds a senior engineering title. - **Stéfanie Grandchamp‑Dubé – Lead UX Designer, Epic Games (promotion)**. Grandchamp‑Dubé joined Epic in 2023 after a senior UX role at Behaviour Interactive, and now leads user‑experience design across multiple Epic titles.

- **Jack Anderson – VFX Artist, Rebellion**. Anderson moves from nDreams and Interior/Night, adding his visual‑effects expertise to Rebellion’s expanding portfolio. - **David Scarborough – Senior Manager, EMEA Communications, Blizzard Entertainment**.

Scarborough’s background includes senior account director work at Brands2Life and communications leadership at Inflexion Games, Improbable, and Koch Media/Deep Silver. - **Esther Lopez – Principal VFX Artist, King**.

Lopez, a longtime King veteran who briefly left for a senior VR‑AR role at Meta, returns to contribute her real‑time visual‑effects mastery. - **Magda Marcinkowska – Production Manager, Marketing, CD Projekt Red**. Previously acting publishing operations director at Techland, Marcinkowska now oversees marketing production for the studio behind *The Witcher* series.

- **Linh Lai – Accounting Assistant, Newzoo**. After a six‑month internship, Lai transitions to a full‑time role, noting how the experience has clarified the link between day‑to‑day accounting tasks and broader business objectives. - **Tommi Virolainen – Senior Game Programmer, Kokoon Games**. Virolainen brings prior tech programming experience from Metacore and senior programming leadership from Lightneer.

- **Christopher Holtorf – Senior Quest Designer, CD Projekt Red**. Holtorf previously served as senior narrative designer at Intrepid Studios, now shaping quest lines for CD Projekt’s upcoming projects. - **Amir Satvat – General Partner, 1Up Ventures**. Satvat, formerly business development director at Tencent Games and founder of the community‑focused job‑resource ASGC, emphasizes his desire to help smaller studios thrive and to keep community values at the heart of investment decisions.

- **Lasse Seppänen – Departing Supercell**. After seven years—including roles as head of game production services and general manager for Supercell London—Seppänen plans to leave the UK in 2027 to launch his own studio, aiming to create fresh IPs.

- **Giles Derrington – Director of Global Affairs, UK, Take‑Two Interactive**. Derrington moves from a head of public affairs role at TikTok to oversee governmental and regulatory matters for Take‑Two in the United Kingdom. - **Jess Pearce – Senior People Partner, Kepler Interactive (promotion)**.

Pearce advanced from people advisor (2022) to senior partner, focusing on talent strategy for the indie‑publisher collective. - **Shreya Godha – Producer, PlaySimple Games (promotion)**.

Godha, previously an associate producer, now leads production on new mobile titles. - **Kelly Ekins – Director of Communications, Epic Games**.

Ekins transitions from Unity, where she was senior director of global PR for the Games and Made with Unity program, and earlier served as marketing lead for media and entertainment after a stint at Warner Brothers Games Montreal. - **Ilari Kuittinen – Stepping Down as Managing Director, Housemarque**. Co‑founder of the studio that merged Bloodhouse and Terramarque in 1995, Kuittinen reflects on three decades of independence before the 2021 acquisition by PlayStation Studios.

He notes that Sami “Haxu” Hakala has taken over as managing director, ensuring continuity. - **Tamara Feiman – CEO, Lion Studios (Tripledot Studios)**. Feiman, who began at Lion in 2020 as EMEA business‑development lead and later became publishing general manager, now leads the studio, highlighting the collaborative partnership model with external developers. - **Heather Sangria – Community Manager, Sega of America**.

Sangria previously consulted as a social strategist for One More Game and managed community initiatives at Undead Labs, bringing a strong background in player engagement. - **Emily Rose Chen – Senior Product Manager, Call of Duty, Activision Blizzard**. Chen started as a financial analyst in 2020, moved into product management, and now drives the flagship shooter’s product roadmap.

- **Scot McCarron – Senior Director of Product Management, Call of Duty, Activision Blizzard**. McCarron, who joined in 2018 as a product marketing manager for emerging franchises, now oversees the broader product strategy for the franchise. These appointments, promotions, and departures illustrate the dynamic nature of talent movement within the games industry.

Companies continue to blend seasoned insiders with fresh external perspectives, aiming to innovate, expand their audiences, and maintain competitive advantage in a rapidly evolving market.