Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures across the games sector can be a daunting task. That’s why we gather the most notable moves into periodic round‑ups, giving industry professionals a single source for the latest personnel news. If you know of a noteworthy appointment or transition that belongs in this list, please forward the individual's name, new title, company, and previous role to newhires@gamesindustry.biz.
In this edition, Fandom announced a trio of senior hires while also promoting a long‑time veteran, signaling a strategic refresh of its leadership roster. Anita Butler has been named Senior Vice President of Design & User Research. Butler brings a rich background in consumer‑focused design, having previously served as Executive Vice President of Design and Research at Nextdoor, Vice President of Consumer Design at Twitter, and Chief Design Officer at Strava.
Her track record of building intuitive, community‑centric experiences positions her to guide Fandom’s design philosophy as the platform expands its fan‑driven content. Damon Sicore joins the company as Chief Technology Officer and head of Fandom Labs. Sicore’s résumé includes senior engineering roles at both Wikipedia and Mozilla, where he oversaw the teams responsible for core web technologies such as Firefox, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.
His deep expertise in open‑source development and platform scalability is expected to accelerate Fandom’s technical roadmap and experimental initiatives. Peter Scanlon has been appointed Chief Marketing Officer. Scanlon arrives with executive experience from Google, Mozilla, and Monks, bringing a blend of data‑driven acquisition tactics and brand storytelling that should help Fandom reach new audiences while deepening engagement among existing fans. In addition to the new hires, 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 that the platform’s backend can support its ever‑growing user base and the ambitious product roadmap laid out by the new leadership team. "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 amplify that foundation, offering 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 mix of continuity and innovation to build the next generation of Fandom." Beyond Fandom, several other noteworthy moves were reported: - Jonathan Knight has taken the role of Chief Games Officer at The New York Times. Knight previously served as Senior Vice President and head of games, 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. After leaving Scopely in 2020, Shi spent time as Director of Product Management at Jam City and later at Blizzard Entertainment, where he contributed to the Diablo franchise.
- Jonathan Marcelino joins Scopely as Director of Product, after founding and serving as CEO of the hybrid‑casual studio Ritmo Games. - Berkay Özer becomes Head of Studio at Fomo Games. Özer, who joined Fomo in 2022 as a product specialist and later led the product team, previously moved to Loom Games as a product manager in 2025.
- Peter Sydow assumes the position of 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 starting as a quest‑design intern in 2023 and advancing to Associate Game Designer in 2024. - Sarah Johnson joins Epic Games as an Art Producer, adding to her extensive background in production 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 longtime Asmodee partner, previously spent 17 years at Wizards of the Coast, where he held multiple senior commercial and regional leadership positions. - Wille Miljas is promoted to Director of Product Marketing at Rovio, after joining the company in 2024 as Marketing Lead and previously heading marketing at Good Shepherd Entertainment and Redhill Games. - Jameson Durall becomes Senior Design Director on the upcoming title Blight: Survival at Behaviour Interactive, having previously worked on Marvel’s Spider‑Man 2 at Insomniac Games. - Matt Dobill advances 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 AndroidXR, after leading customer and developer success at Niantic Spatial and managing developer relations at Niantic. - Erik Meurk is promoted to Senior Software Engineer at King, rising from a Unity development internship in 2023 to an associate engineer in early 2024.
- Stéfanie Grandchamp‑Dubé becomes Lead UX Designer at Epic Games, after joining as a Senior UX Designer in 2023 following a stint at Behaviour Interactive. - Jack Anderson signs on with Rebellion as a VFX Artist, having previously held the same role at nDreams and Interior/Night. - David Scarborough joins Blizzard Entertainment as Senior Manager of EMEA Communications, bringing prior senior account and communications leadership from Brands2Life, Inflexion Games, Improbable, and Koch Media/Deep Silver.
- Esther Lopez is appointed Principal VFX Artist at King. Lopez, who started at King in 2014 and later spent two years at Meta developing real‑time VR‑AR effects, expressed excitement about returning to the studio that shaped her early career.
- Magda Marcinkowska becomes Production Manager, 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 experience has broadened her understanding of accounting’s role within the larger business.
- Tommi Virolainen joins Kokoon Games as Senior Game Programmer, after senior programming roles at Lightneer and a technical programmer position at Metacore. - Christopher Holtorf is named Senior Quest Designer at CD Projekt Red, previously a Senior Narrative Designer at Intrepid Studios.
- Amir Satvat becomes General Partner at 1Up Ventures, transitioning from Business Development Director at Tencent Games and founding the community‑focused initiative Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC). - Lasse Seppänen announces his departure from Supercell after seven years, indicating plans to launch his own studio in the UK in 2027. - Giles Derrington is appointed Director of Global Affairs, UK at Take‑Two Interactive, after serving as Head of Public Affairs, UK 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, following senior global PR leadership at Unity and earlier marketing roles at Warner Brothers Games Montreal. - Ilari Kuittinen, co‑founder and Managing Director of Housemarque, steps down after 31 years.
Kuittinen reflected on the studio’s independent journey and the smooth transition to new leadership under Sami "Haxu" Hakala. - Tamara Feiman is appointed CEO of Lion Studios, a division of Tripledot Studios. Feiman, who started at Lion in 2020 as EMEA Business Development Lead, highlighted the collaborative culture that has driven the studio’s success. - 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, having risen from a financial analyst position in 2020 to product management. - Scot McCarron advances to Senior Director of Product Management for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard, after joining in 2018 as Product Marketing Manager for emerging franchises.
These appointments, promotions, and departures illustrate the dynamic nature of talent movement within the interactive entertainment industry. Companies continue to invest in experienced leaders while also injecting fresh perspectives, ensuring that the sector remains innovative and responsive to the evolving expectations of gamers worldwide.