Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures in the games sector can be a real challenge, which is why we publish periodic round‑ups that capture the most notable moves. If you know of any recent appointments or transitions that belong in this list, please forward the name, new title, new company, and previous role/company to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. Natalie Francis will assume the role of studio manager at Ubisoft’s Massive Entertainment starting 1 October 2026.
Francis brings a wealth of senior leadership experience, having most recently served as chief development officer at Avalanche Studios. Earlier in her career she oversaw studio operations and development at DICE and held the position of studio operations director at Electronic Arts.
"Massive Entertainment boasts an extraordinary legacy built by incredibly talented people and a culture that values craft and quality," Francis said. "I’m thrilled to build on that foundation and help create the conditions for the studio and its people to thrive in the next chapter of our journey." Christoph Hartmann, General Manager of Creative House 2, added that Francis’s extensive background in uniting multidisciplinary teams around clear creative and business visions makes her an ideal leader for Massive’s upcoming phase. He highlighted her proven ability to deliver ambitious player experiences while aligning long‑term strategy with operational excellence, providing a solid platform for the studio’s future growth. In other news, Allie Murdock has been promoted to senior manager of game production at Riot Games.
Murdock previously managed production on the flagship title Valorant and, before joining Riot, served as production director at Red Lens Games. Gearbox Entertainment announced the appointment of Kristen Quinn as its new lead sound designer.
Quinn’s résumé includes stints as audio director, contractor, and consultant at Bonfire Studios, as well as a previous tenure as audio director at Polyarc. Benjamin Liu joins Insomniac Games as lead VFX artist after acting as principal VFX artist (and interim VFX director) at Lightspeed LA. Fandom revealed three fresh additions to its executive leadership team alongside the promotion of a long‑time veteran. Anita Butler steps into the role of senior vice‑president, design & user research, after serving as EVP of design and research at Nextdoor and holding senior design positions at Twitter and Strava.
Damon Sicore arrives as chief technology officer and head of Fandom Labs, bringing leadership experience from Wikipedia and Mozilla, where he oversaw engineering for Firefox, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. Peter Scanlon has been named chief marketing officer, drawing on executive experience from Google, Mozilla, and Monks. Additionally, Daniel Grunwell was promoted to senior vice‑president of engineering, where he will oversee the company’s engineering and infrastructure teams.
Fandom CEO Jay Sullivan praised the company’s strong foundation of millions of fans who have built knowledge and communities over the years. He noted that the new leadership will help expand ways for fans to connect, discover, and participate, emphasizing the blend of deep institutional knowledge and fresh perspectives. The New York Times appointed Jonathan Knight as chief games officer. Knight previously served as senior vice‑president and head of games, where he led the acquisition and integration of the viral puzzle Wordle.
Chase Shi returns to Scopely as vice‑president, head of game product. Shi originally left Scopely in 2020 as a senior product manager, later directing product management at Jam City and then at Blizzard Entertainment, where he worked on Diablo. 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 over as head of studio at Fomo Games. Özer joined Fomo in 2022 as a product specialist and team lead, departed in 2025 for Loom Games, and now returns to lead the studio.
Peter Sydow joins Arrowhead Game Studios as head of production, bringing senior producer experience from Massive Entertainment and PlayerUnknown Productions. Ryan Ngoon was 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 becomes an art producer at Epic Games, having previously held producer roles at Bungie, Secret Dimension, Hangar 13, and Telltale Games. Brian Trunk was appointed senior vice‑president of Route to Market for the Americas at Asmodee.
Trunk, a partner at Asmodee for over a decade, spent 17 years at Wizards of the Coast in senior commercial and regional leadership positions. He emphasized that his career has been shaped by great people, strong relationships, trust, and community.
Wille Miljas was promoted to director of product marketing at Rovio. Miljas joined Rovio in 2024 as marketing lead after serving as head of marketing at Good Shepherd Entertainment and Redhill Games, and as senior marketing manager at Next Games.
Behaviour Interactive named 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.
Matt Dobill was promoted 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 and serving as senior developer relations manager at Niantic. Erik Meurk was promoted to senior software engineer at King.
He started as a Unity development intern in 2023, became an associate software engineer in early 2024, and has continued to grow within the company. Stéfanie Grandchamp‑Dubé advances to lead UX designer at Epic Games, after joining in 2023 as a senior UX designer following a similar role 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 director roles at Brands2Life and head of communications at Inflexion Games, plus senior positions at Improbable and Koch Media/Deep Silver. King appointed Esther Lopez as principal VFX artist. Lopez began at King in 2014 as a senior artist, rose to associate principal VFX artist in 2020, spent two years at Meta developing real‑time VFX for VR/AR, and now returns to King, describing the move as a rare privilege.
Magda Marcinkowska was named production manager, marketing at CD Projekt Red, after serving as acting publishing operations director at Techland. Linh Lai secured a permanent accounting assistant role at Newzoo following a six‑month internship, citing a deeper understanding of accounting processes and their connection to broader business operations. Tommi Virolainen joined Kokoon Games as senior game programmer, after tech programming at Metacore and senior programming roles at Lightneer.
Christopher Holtorf was appointed senior quest designer at CD Projekt Red, previously senior narrative designer at Intrepid Studios. Amir Satvat became a general partner at 1Up Ventures, after serving as business development director at Tencent Games and founding the community‑focused resource Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC). He expressed a desire to help people return to work in the industry and to support smaller studios. Lasse Seppänen announced his departure from Supercell after seven years, during which he rose from producer to head of game production services and general manager of Supercell London.
He plans to launch his own studio in the UK in 2027. Take‑Two Interactive appointed Giles Derrington as director of global affairs UK, previously head of public affairs UK at TikTok. Jess Pearce was promoted to senior people partner at Kepler Interactive, after joining as a people advisor in 2022. Shreya Godha advanced to producer at PlaySimple Games, after working as an associate producer.
Kelly Ekins was named 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 studio lead for game marketing at Warner Brothers Games Montreal. Ilari Kuittinen, co‑founder and managing director of Housemarque, stepped 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 became CEO of Tripledot Studios’ Lion Studios, after rising from EMEA business development lead in 2020 to publishing general manager. Heather Sangria joined 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 was 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 advanced to senior director of product management for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard, following a tenure as director of product management on the franchise and an earlier role as product marketing manager for emerging franchises when he joined in 2018.