Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures in the games sector can be a real challenge, which is why we regularly compile these updates into concise round‑ups. If you know of any noteworthy moves—new appointments, role changes, or exits—please forward the names, new titles, companies, and previous positions to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. Fandom has bolstered its senior leadership with three fresh appointments and a promotion for a long‑time veteran. Anita Butler steps into the role of Senior Vice President of Design & User Research.
Butler brings a wealth of experience, having previously served as EVP of Design and Research at Nextdoor, as Vice President of Consumer Design at Twitter, and as Chief Design Officer at Strava. Damon Sicore joins as Chief Technology Officer and head of Fandom Labs; his background includes senior engineering leadership at both Wikipedia and Mozilla, where he oversaw the teams that built core web technologies such as Firefox, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. Peter Scanlon is named Chief Marketing Officer, adding executive experience from stints at Google, Mozilla, and Monks.
In addition, Daniel Grunwell, a fifteen‑year Fandom veteran, has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Engineering, where he will direct the engineering and infrastructure organization. "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 expand that foundation, giving fans even more ways to connect, discover, and take part.
Daniel's deep history with Fandom provides an intimate understanding of our roots, while Damon, Peter and Anita bring fresh perspectives and deep consumer‑platform expertise. Together we have the right team to shape the next generation of Fandom." Other notable moves in September include Jonathan Knight’s appointment as Chief Games Officer at The New York Times. Knight previously held the SVP title and led the games division, overseeing the acquisition and integration of the viral puzzle Wordle.
Chase Shi returns to Scopely as Vice President and Head of Game Product after a five‑year hiatus; Shi originally left Scopely in 2020 as a senior product manager, then served as Director of Product Management at Jam City and later at Blizzard Entertainment, where he helped steer the Diablo franchise. Jonathan Marcelino has been named Director of Product at Scopely, coming from a background as founder and 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 and later led the product team before moving to Loom Games as a product manager in 2025. Peter Sydow becomes Head of Production at Arrowhead Game Studios, bringing senior producer experience from Massive Entertainment and PlayerUnknown Productions. Blizzard Entertainment promotes Ryan Ngoon to Game Designer. Ngoon started at Blizzard in 2023 as a quest design intern, progressed to associate game designer in 2024, and now takes on full design responsibilities.
Sarah Johnson joins Epic Games as an Art Producer after a career that includes producer roles at Bungie, Secret Dimension, Hangar 13, and Telltale Games. Brian Trunk is 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, most recently as Vice President of Commercial and Digital Games Revenue and head of the Wizards Play Network.
He has also led regional operations for EMEA, LATAM, and APAC at Wizards. "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 the most successful businesses are built on great people, strong relationships, trust, and community. At Asmodee, those values intersect with my deep love of games, making this move deeply personal." Rovio promotes Wille Miljas to Director of Product Marketing.
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. Behaviour Interactive names Jameson Durall 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. Epic Games elevates Matt Dobill to Director of Applied AI, while he also continues as Senior Counsel on Technology and Tools.
Joe Gabriel joins Unity as Senior Technical Production Manager for AndroidXR after leading customer and developer success at Niantic Spatial and serving as Senior Developer Relations Manager at Niantic. King promotes Erik Meurk to Senior Software Engineer. Meurk entered King as a Unity development intern in August 2023, became an associate software engineer in February 2024, and now holds a senior engineering role.
Stéfanie Grandchamp‑Dubé advances to Lead UX Designer at Epic Games. Grandchamp‑Dubé arrived at Epic in 2023 as a senior UX designer after a similar stint at Behaviour Interactive. Jack Anderson joins Rebellion as a VFX Artist, following previous VFX work at nDreams and Interior/Night. David Scarborough becomes Senior Manager of EMEA Communications at Blizzard Entertainment, after senior account and communications leadership at Brands2Life, Inflexion Games, Improbable, and Koch Media/Deep Silver.
King appoints Esther Lopez as Principal VFX Artist. Lopez first joined King in 2014 as a senior artist, rose to associate principal VFX artist in 2020, spent two years at Meta as a real‑time VFX specialist, and now returns to King, describing the move as a rare privilege.
Magda Marcinkowska becomes Production Manager in Marketing at CD Projekt Red, after serving as Acting Publishing Operations Director at Techland. Linh Lai is hired as Accounting Assistant at Newzoo following a six‑month internship, noting how the role has deepened her understanding of accounting processes and their impact on the broader business. Tommi Virolainen joins Kokoon Games as Senior Game Programmer, bringing prior experience as a tech programmer at Metacore and senior programming roles at Lightneer. Christopher Holtorf is appointed Senior Quest Designer at CD Projekt Red, after serving as Senior Narrative Designer at Intrepid Studios.
1Up Ventures welcomes Amir Satvat as General Partner. Satvat previously was Business Development Director at Tencent Games and founded the community resource Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC), which helps job seekers enter the industry. He emphasized his desire to connect his work directly with helping people find employment and to support smaller studios.
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 for Supercell London. He plans to return to the UK and launch his own studio in 2027.
Take‑Two Interactive names Giles Derrington 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. Shreya Godha moves up to Producer at PlaySimple Games, after serving as Associate Producer. Epic Games appoints Kelly Ekins as Director of Communications.
Ekins previously served as Senior Director of Global PR for Unity’s Games and Made with Unity program, and before that led marketing for Warner Brothers Games Montreal. 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 studio’s independent journey and the smooth transition to PlayStation Studios, noting that Sami "Haxu" Hakala has taken over as Managing Director.
Tamara Feiman is appointed CEO of Lion Studios, a unit of Tripledot Studios. Feiman began at Lion in 2020 as EMEA Business Development Lead, later becoming Publishing General Manager. She highlighted the collaborative culture and the studio’s ability to turn bold ideas into 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 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 a financial analyst position in 2020 to product manager. Finally, Scot McCarron advances to Senior Director of Product Management for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard, after joining in 2018 as a product marketing manager for emerging franchises. These appointments, promotions, and departures illustrate the dynamic nature of the gaming industry, where talent moves fluidly between studios, bringing fresh ideas, deep expertise, and new leadership perspectives that shape the future of interactive entertainment.