September 2026 Jobs Summary – New Executive Appointments at Fandom and Industry Moves

Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures across the gaming sector can be a daunting task, which is why we gather the most noteworthy personnel changes into periodic round‑ups. If you know of a transition that deserves a mention—new role, company, and the individual's previous position—please forward the details to newhires@gamesindustry.biz.

**Fandom’s Leadership Expansion** Fandom announced a trio of senior appointments to its executive leadership roster, alongside the elevation of a long‑time veteran. - **Anita Butler** has been named Senior Vice President of Design & User Research.

Butler arrives with a rich background that includes serving as EVP of Design and Research at Nextdoor, leading consumer design initiatives at Twitter, and acting as Chief Design Officer for the fitness app Strava. Her expertise in user‑centered design and community‑driven research is expected to sharpen Fandom’s product experience. - **Damon Sicore** steps into the role of 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 core web technologies such as Firefox, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. His technical depth will guide Fandom’s platform evolution and experimental lab projects. - **Peter Scanlon** takes the helm as Chief Marketing Officer.

Scanlon brings executive marketing experience from stints at Google, Mozilla, and Monks, positioning him to amplify Fandom’s brand presence and community outreach. - **Daniel Grunwell**, a fifteen‑year Fandom veteran, has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Engineering. In his new capacity, Grunwell will supervise the engineering and infrastructure divisions, ensuring the backbone of Fandom’s services remains robust and scalable. CEO Jay Sullivan summed up the strategic intent: “Fandom rests on an extraordinary foundation—millions of fans who have spent years curating knowledge and building communities around the things they love.

Our mission is to expand that foundation, giving fans 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 team to build the next generation of Fandom." **Key Appointments Across the Industry** - **Jonathan Knight** becomes Chief Games Officer at The New York Times. Knight previously held the SVP title, leading the games division and steering the acquisition and integration of the viral puzzle phenomenon 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, later directing product at Jam City and serving as Director of Product Management for Diablo at Blizzard Entertainment. - **Jonathan Marcelino** is appointed Director of Product at Scopely after founding and serving as CEO of the hybrid‑casual studio Ritmo Games. - **Berkay Özer** takes the role of Head of Studio at Fomo Games. Özer joined Fomo in 2022 as a product specialist, later leading the product team, before a brief stint at Loom Games as product manager in 2025.

- **Peter Sydow** joins Arrowhead Game Studios as Head of Production, bringing senior producer experience from Massive Entertainment and PlayerUnknown Productions. - **Ryan Ngoon** is promoted to Game Designer at Blizzard Entertainment after beginning as a quest‑design intern in 2023 and advancing to associate game designer in 2024. - **Sarah Johnson** becomes an Art Producer at Epic Games, having previously held producer 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 at Asmodee. Trunk, a longtime Asmodee partner, spent 17 years at Wizards of the Coast in senior commercial and regional leadership positions. - **Wille Miljas** is promoted to Director of Product Marketing at Rovio, after joining as Marketing Lead in 2024 and previously heading marketing at Good Shepherd Entertainment and Redhill Games.

- **Jameson Durall** joins Behaviour Interactive as Senior Design Director on *Blight: Survival*, after serving as an advanced senior game designer on *Marvel’s Spider‑Man 2* at Insomniac Games. - **Matt Dobill** advances to Director of Applied AI at Epic Games, while also acting as senior counsel on technology and tools. - **Joe Gabriel** becomes Senior Technical Production Manager for AndroidXR at Unity, following leadership of customer and developer success at Niantic Spatial and a senior developer‑relations role at Niantic.

- **Erik Meurk** is promoted to Senior Software Engineer at King, rising from a Unity development internship in 2023 to associate software engineer in early 2024. - **Stéfanie Grandchamp‑Dubé** moves up to Lead UX Designer at Epic Games, after joining as a senior UX designer in 2023 from a similar position at Behaviour Interactive.

- **Jack Anderson** joins Rebellion as a VFX Artist, having previously worked in the same capacity at nDreams and Interior/Night. - **David Scarborough** becomes Senior Manager of EMEA Communications at Blizzard Entertainment, after senior account and communications roles at Brands2Life, Inflexion Games, Improbable, and Koch Media/Deep Silver. - **Esther Lopez** is appointed Principal VFX Artist at King.

Lopez’s career at King began in 2014; after a period at Meta focusing on real‑time VR/AR VFX, she returns eager to blend immersive experience expertise with King’s creative pipeline. - **Magda Marcinkowska** takes on the role of Production Manager, Marketing at CD Projekt Red, after acting as Publishing Operations Director at Techland. - **Linh Lai** is hired as Accounting Assistant at Newzoo following a six‑month internship, expressing enthusiasm for deeper involvement in finance processes and efficiency improvements.

- **Tommi Virolainen** joins Kokoon Games as Senior Game Programmer, bringing prior tech programming experience from Metacore and senior development roles at Lightneer. - **Christopher Holtorf** becomes Senior Quest Designer at CD Projekt Red, after serving as Senior Narrative Designer at Intrepid Studios. - **Amir Satvat** joins 1Up Ventures as General Partner. Satvat previously directed business development at Tencent Games and founded the community‑focused initiative Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC), aimed at helping job seekers enter the industry.

- **Lasse Seppänen** announces his departure from Supercell after seven years, citing a desire to return to creating new IPs. He plans to launch his own studio in the UK by 2027.

- **Giles Derrington** is appointed Director of Global Affairs, UK at Take‑Two Interactive, after leading public affairs for TikTok in the United Kingdom. - **Jess Pearce** is promoted to Senior People Partner at Kepler Interactive, having progressed from People Advisor (2022) to People Partner (2024).

- **Shreya Godha** advances to Producer at PlaySimple Games, following an associate producer tenure. - **Kelly Ekins** becomes Director of Communications at Epic Games, after serving as Senior Director of Global PR for Unity’s Games and Made with Unity program and earlier as a marketing lead at Warner Brothers Games Montreal. - **Ilari Kuittinen**, co‑founder and Managing Director of Housemarque, steps down after 31 years.

Kuittinen co‑founded the studio in 1995 through the merger of Bloodhouse and Terramarque. He notes the company’s successful independent run and smooth transition to PlayStation Studios, with Sami “Haxu” Hakala now leading as Managing Director. - **Tamara Feiman** is appointed CEO of Lion Studios, a division of Tripledot Studios.

Feiman began at Lion in 2020 as EMEA Business Development Lead, later becoming Publishing General Manager, and highlights the collaborative culture that fuels the studio’s hit titles. - **Heather Sangria** joins Sega of America as Community Manager, after 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, having risen from a financial analyst role in 2020 to product manager.

- **Scot McCarron** advances to Senior Director of Product Management for *Call of Duty* at Activision Blizzard, after serving as Director of Product Management for the franchise and starting at the company in 2018 as Product Marketing Manager for emerging franchises. These movements illustrate the dynamic nature of talent within the games ecosystem, where seasoned leaders transition to new challenges, emerging professionals climb the ladder, and companies continuously reshape their executive benches to meet evolving market demands. The collective expertise of these individuals will shape the next wave of gaming experiences, platform innovations, and community engagement across the industry.