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 movements. If your organisation has recently welcomed new talent or seen senior staff transition to new roles, feel free to forward the details—name, new position, new company, plus previous role and employer—to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. In this September edition, several high‑profile appointments are highlighted. Natalie Francis will take over as studio manager of Ubisoft’s Massive Entertainment starting 1 October 2026.
Francis arrives with a robust résumé: she most recently served as chief development officer at Avalanche Studios, and before that she oversaw studio operations and development at DICE and held the studio operations director role at Electronic Arts. "Massive Entertainment has an extraordinary history, built by incredibly talented people and a culture that cares deeply about craft and quality," Francis said. "I’m excited to build on that foundation and help create the conditions for the studio and its people to thrive in its next chapter." Christoph Hartmann, General Manager for Creative House 2, added that Francis’s track record of uniting multidisciplinary teams around clear creative and business visions makes her an ideal leader for Massive’s future. He noted that her ability to deliver ambitious player experiences while aligning long‑term strategy with operational excellence provides a solid base for the studio’s continued success.
Riot Games also announced an internal promotion: Allie Murdock has been elevated to senior manager, game production. Murdock, who previously managed production on Valorant, joins the senior management team after a stint as production director at Red Lens Games.
Gearbox Entertainment welcomed Kristen Quinn as its new lead sound designer. Quinn brings extensive audio leadership experience, having acted as audio director, contractor and consultant at Bonfire Studios and previously serving as audio director at Polyarc.
Insomniac Games added Benjamin Liu to its roster as lead VFX artist. Liu comes from Lightspeed LA, where he acted as principal VFX artist and interim VFX director. Fandom disclosed three fresh executive hires and a promotion of a long‑time veteran. Anita Butler steps in as senior vice president of design & user research, after senior roles at Nextdoor, Twitter and Strava.
Damon Sicore joins as chief technology officer and head of Fandom Labs, bringing a background that includes leading engineering teams behind Firefox, HTML, JavaScript and CSS at Mozilla and Wikipedia. Peter Scanlon is appointed chief marketing officer, drawing on senior marketing experience from Google, Mozilla and Monks.
Additionally, Daniel Grunwell has been promoted to senior vice president of engineering, where he will oversee the company’s engineering and infrastructure divisions. Fandom CEO Jay Sullivan praised the blend of deep institutional knowledge and fresh perspectives, saying the team is well‑positioned to expand fan‑centric experiences. The New York Times named Jonathan Knight as its chief games officer.
Knight previously served as senior vice president and head of games, overseeing the acquisition and integration of the viral puzzle game Wordle. Scopely sees the return of Chase Shi as vice‑president, head of game product. Shi originally left Scopely in 2020, then held product leadership roles at Jam City and Blizzard Entertainment, where he directed product management for Diablo. Scopely also appoints Jonathan Marcelino as director of product; Marcelino previously founded and led the hybrid‑casual studio Ritmo Games.
Fomo Games promoted Berkay Özer to head of studio. Özer, who joined Fomo in 2022 as a product specialist and later led the product team, spent 2025 at Loom Games as product manager before returning. Arrowhead Game Studios hired Peter Sydow as head of production.
Sydow’s background includes senior producer positions at Massive Entertainment and PlayerUnknown Productions. Blizzard Entertainment promoted Ryan Ngoon to game designer. Ngoon began as a quest design intern in 2023, advancing to associate game designer the following year.
Epic Games added Sarah Johnson as an art producer. Johnson’s prior experience spans Bungie, Secret Dimension, Hangar 13 and Telltale Games, where she held various producer roles. Asmodee announced Brian Trunk as senior vice president of Route to Market for the Americas. Trunk, a longtime Asmodee partner, previously spent 17 years at Wizards of the Coast in senior commercial and regional leadership positions.
He emphasized that his leadership philosophy is built on strong relationships, trust and a shared love of games. Rovio promoted Wille Miljas to director of product marketing.
Miljas, who joined Rovio in 2024 as marketing lead, previously headed marketing at Good Shepherd Entertainment and Redhill Games and managed planning and strategy at Next Games. Behaviour Interactive named Jameson Durall senior design director on the upcoming title Blight: Survival.
Durall’s recent work includes senior game design on Marvel’s Spider‑Man 2 at Insomniac Games. Epic Games promoted Matt Dobill to director of applied AI, while also serving as senior counsel on technology and tools. Unity welcomed Joe Gabriel as senior technical production manager for AndroidXR.
Gabriel previously led customer and developer success at Niantic Spatial and held senior developer relations responsibilities at Niantic. King announced the promotion of Erik Meurk to senior software engineer. Meurk began his King career as a Unity development intern in 2023 and progressed to associate software engineer by early 2024. Epic Games promoted Stéfanie Grandchamp‑Dubé to lead UX designer.
Grandchamp‑Dubé joined Epic in 2023 after a senior UX design stint at Behaviour Interactive. Rebellion hired Jack Anderson as a VFX artist; Anderson previously worked in the same capacity at nDreams and Interior/Night.
Blizzard Entertainment added David Scarborough as senior manager of EMEA communications. Scarborough’s background includes senior account direction at Brands2Life and communications leadership at Inflexion Games, Improbable and Koch Media/Deep Silver. King appointed Esther Lopez as principal VFX artist. Lopez first joined King in 2014, rose to associate principal VFX artist in 2020, spent two years at Meta developing real‑time VR‑AR VFX, and now returns to bring those insights back to King.
CD Projekt Red named Magda Marcinkowska production manager in marketing after she served as acting publishing operations director at Techland. Newzoo hired Linh Lai as accounting assistant following a six‑month internship; Lai highlighted how the role deepened her understanding of accounting processes within a larger business context. Kokoon Games added Tommi Virolainen as senior game programmer; Virolainen previously programmed at Metacore and held senior development roles at Lightneer.
CD Projekt Red also appointed Christopher Holtorf as senior quest designer, after senior narrative design work at Intrepid Studios. Venture capital firm 1Up Ventures welcomed Amir Satvat as a general partner.
Satvat previously directed business development at Tencent Games and founded the community‑focused initiative Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC). He expressed a desire to help smaller studios thrive and to work with colleagues who share his values. Supercell announced the departure of Lasse Seppänen after seven years.
Seppänen, who progressed from producer to head of game production services and general manager of Supercell London, plans to launch his own studio in the UK in 2027. Take‑Two Interactive appointed Giles Derrington as director of global affairs UK, after leading public affairs at TikTok. Kepler Interactive promoted Jess Pearce to senior people partner; Pearce has been with Kepler since 2022. PlaySimple Games elevated Shreya Godha to producer, following her role as associate producer.
Epic Games named Kelly Ekins director of communications; Ekins previously served as senior director of global PR for Unity’s Games and Made with Unity program after a stint at Warner Brothers Games Montreal. Housemarque co‑founder and managing director Ilari Kuittinen stepped down after 31 years. Kuittinen reflected on the studio’s independent legacy and the smooth transition to new leadership under Sami “Haxu” Hakala. Tripledot Studios’ Lion Studios appointed Tamara Feiman as CEO.
Feiman, who began at Lion in 2020 as EMEA business development lead, emphasized the collaborative spirit that has helped the studio publish games enjoyed by millions. Sega of America hired Heather Sangria as community manager.
Sangria previously worked as a contract social strategist at One More Game and handled digital strategy at Undead Labs. Activision Blizzard promoted Emily Rose Chen to senior product manager for Call of Duty, after joining as a financial analyst in 2020 and moving into product management. Scot McCarron was also promoted to senior director of product management for Call of Duty, having served as director of product management since joining the company in 2018.
These movements illustrate the dynamic nature of talent flow within the interactive entertainment industry, underscoring how experience across studios, platforms and disciplines continues to shape the next generation of games and experiences.