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 a transition that belongs in this list, please forward the individual's name, new title, new company, and previous role to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. This edition highlights a series of significant appointments, including three fresh faces joining Fandom's executive leadership cadre and the elevation of a long‑standing veteran within the same organization. Anita Butler has been named senior vice president of design & user research at Fandom.
Butler arrives with a distinguished background, having most recently served as EVP of design and research at Nextdoor. Prior to that she held the position of vice president of consumer design at Twitter and was chief design officer at Strava, where she oversaw large‑scale user‑experience initiatives.
Damon Sicore steps into the role of chief technology officer and head of Fandom Labs. Sicore’s résumé includes senior engineering leadership at both Wikipedia and Mozilla. At Mozilla he guided the teams responsible for core web technologies such as Firefox, HTML, JavaScript and CSS, giving him deep expertise in building platforms that scale to millions of users. Peter Scanlon joins Fandom as chief marketing officer.
Scanlon brings executive experience from stints at Google, Mozilla and Monks, where he led global brand strategy, performance marketing, and community outreach programs. In addition to these new hires, Daniel Grunwell, a fifteen‑year veteran of Fandom, has been promoted to senior vice president of engineering. In his new capacity Grunwell will oversee the company’s engineering and infrastructure organization, ensuring that the technical backbone supporting Fandom’s massive fan‑generated content remains robust and innovative.
"Fandom rests on an extraordinary foundation – millions of enthusiasts who have spent years curating knowledge and building communities around the subjects they love," said CEO Jay Sullivan. "Our mission is to expand that foundation, giving fans more ways to connect, discover and take part.
Daniel’s deep tenure gives him a unique understanding of our roots, while Damon, Peter and Anita bring fresh perspectives and deep consumer‑platform expertise. Together we have the right team to craft the next generation of Fandom." Other notable moves in 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, where he oversaw the acquisition and integration of the viral puzzle Wordle. Chase Shi returns to Scopely as vice president and head of game product. Shi originally left Scopely in 2020 as a senior product manager, then spent time as director of product management at Jam City and later as director of product management for Diablo at Blizzard Entertainment. Jonathan Marcelino has been named director of product at Scopely after founding and serving as CEO of the hybrid‑casual studio Ritmo Games.
Berkay Özer takes the helm as head of studio at Fomo Games. Özer joined the firm in 2022 as a product specialist and later led the product team before a brief stint at Loom Games as product manager. Peter Sydow becomes head of production at Arrowhead Game Studios, bringing senior producer experience from Massive Entertainment and PlayerUnknown Productions. Ryan Ngoon is promoted to game designer at Blizzard Entertainment after joining as a quest‑design intern in 2023 and moving to associate game designer in 2024.
Sarah Johnson joins Epic Games as an art producer, adding to her previous production roles at Bungie, Secret Dimension, Hangar 13 and Telltale Games. Brian Trunk steps into the senior vice president of Route to Market for the Americas role at Asmodee. Trunk has been a partner at Asmodee for over a decade and spent 17 years at Wizards of the Coast in senior commercial and regional leadership positions. Willo Miljas is promoted to director of product marketing at Rovio, after joining the company in 2024 as a marketing lead and previously heading marketing at Good Shepherd Entertainment and Redhill Games.
Jameson Durall is appointed senior design director on Blight: Survival at Behaviour Interactive, following a senior design role on Marvel’s Spider‑Man 2 at Insomniac Games. Matt Dobill advances to director of applied AI at Epic Games, where he also serves 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. Erik Meurk is promoted to senior software engineer at King, having risen from a Unity development internship in 2023 to associate software engineer in early 2024.
Stéfanie Grandchamp‑Dubé becomes lead UX designer at Epic Games, after joining as a senior UX designer in 2023 from Behaviour Interactive. Jack Anderson signs on with Rebellion as a VFX artist, moving from similar roles at nDreams and Interior/Night. David Scarborough joins Blizzard Entertainment as senior manager of EMEA communications, after senior account and communications leadership at Brands2Life, Inflexion Games, Improbable and Koch Media/Deep Silver. Esther Lopez is appointed principal VFX artist at King.
Lopez originally joined King in 2014, progressed to associate principal VFX artist, then spent two years at Meta focusing on real‑time VR‑AR visual effects before returning. Magda Marcinkowska becomes production manager in marketing at CD Projekt Red, after serving as acting publishing operations director at Techland. Linh Lai starts as accounting assistant at Newzoo following a six‑month internship, expressing enthusiasm for deeper involvement in finance processes.
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 named senior quest designer at CD Projekt Red, after a senior narrative designer role at Intrepid Studios. Amir Satvat joins 1Up Ventures as a general partner, having previously been business development director at Tencent Games and founder of the industry‑focused community ASGC.
Lasse Seppänen announces his departure from Supercell after seven years, indicating plans to launch his own studio in the UK in 2027. Take‑Two Interactive appoints Giles Derrington as director of global affairs UK, after leading public affairs at TikTok. 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. Kelly Ekins becomes director of communications at Epic Games, after senior global PR leadership at Unity and earlier marketing experience at Warner Brothers Games Montreal. Ilari Kuittinen steps down as co‑founder and managing director of Housemarlet after 31 years, passing the role to Sami "Haxu" Hakala while remaining an advisor to ensure continuity.
Tamara Feiman is appointed CEO of Lion Studios, a division of Tripledot Studios, after rising through the publishing ranks since joining in 2020. Heather Sangria joins Sega of America as community manager, following contract social‑strategy work 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 later moving into product management. 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 talent movement within the games industry, underscoring how companies continually seek fresh expertise while also rewarding long‑term contributors.