Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures across the gaming sector can be a daunting task, which is why we publish periodic round‑ups that capture the most noteworthy movements. If you know of any recent appointments or role changes that belong in this list, please forward the individual's name, new title, new company, as well as their previous position and employer to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. Natalie Francis has been named studio manager for Ubisoft's Massive Entertainment, with her tenure beginning on 1 October 2026.
Francis brings a wealth of senior leadership experience to the role. She most recently served as chief development officer at Avalanche Studios, where she oversaw multiple high‑profile projects and guided the studio through a period of rapid expansion.
Prior to that, she held the position of head of studio operations and development at DICE, and earlier she was studio operations director for Electronic Arts, responsible for streamlining production pipelines and fostering cross‑functional collaboration. "Massive Entertainment boasts an extraordinary legacy built by exceptionally talented people and a culture that deeply values craftsmanship and quality," Francis said in her announcement.
"I am thrilled to build on that foundation and help create the conditions for the studio and its people to flourish in the next chapter of our journey." Christoph Hartmann, General Manager of Creative House 2, added: "Natalie's extensive track record of uniting multidisciplinary teams around a clear creative and business vision makes her perfectly suited to steer Massive into its next era. Her history of delivering ambitious player experiences while aligning long‑term strategy with operational excellence provides a solid platform for the studio and its talented crews moving forward." Allie Murdock has been promoted within Riot Games to senior manager of game production. Murdock previously managed production on the flagship shooter Valorant and, before joining Riot, she was production director at Red Lens Games, where she led several successful indie titles. Kristen Quinn has taken the helm as lead sound designer at Gearbox Entertainment.
Quinn's background includes roles as audio director, contractor, and consultant at Bonfire Studios, as well as a stint as audio director at Polyarc, where she helped shape the auditory identity of award‑winning games. Benjamin Liu joins Insomniac Games as lead VFX artist. Liu most recently acted as principal VFX artist and interim VFX director at Lightspeed LA, contributing to high‑fidelity visual effects for several AAA projects. Fandom announced three senior appointments alongside the promotion of a long‑time veteran.
Anita Butler is now senior vice president of design & user research, arriving from Nextdoor where she served as EVP of design and research, and previously held VP roles at Twitter and chief design officer at Strava. Damon Sicore steps in as chief technology officer and head of Fandom Labs, bringing leadership experience from Wikipedia and Mozilla, where he oversaw the engineering teams behind Firefox, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.
Peter Scanlon has been appointed chief marketing officer, adding executive marketing experience from Google, Mozilla, and Monks. Daniel Grunwell has been elevated to senior vice president of engineering, taking responsibility for Fandom's engineering and infrastructure organization.
"Fandom rests on an incredible foundation—millions of fans who have spent years building knowledge and communities around the things they love," said CEO Jay Sullivan. "Our opportunity is to expand that foundation, giving fans even more ways to connect, discover, and participate. Daniel's deep tenure at Fandom provides a nuanced understanding of our roots, while Damon, Pete, and Anita bring fresh perspectives and deep consumer and platform expertise.
Together, we have the right team to build the next generation of Fandom." Jonathan Knight has been appointed 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.
Shi originally left Scopely in 2020 after serving as senior product manager, then moved to Jam City as director of product management, followed by a role at Blizzard Entertainment where he directed product management for Diablo. Jonathan Marcelino becomes director of product at Scopely, after founding and serving as CEO of hybrid‑casual studio Ritmo Games. Berkay Özer has been named head of studio at Fomo Games.
Özer joined Fomo in 2022 as a product specialist and later led the product team before departing in 2025 to become product manager at Loom Games. Peter Sydow joins Arrowhead Game Studios as head of production, bringing senior producer experience from Massive Entertainment and PlayerUnknown Productions. Ryan Ngoon has been promoted to game designer at Blizzard Entertainment.
Ngoon started at Blizzard in 2023 as a quest design intern and progressed to associate game designer in 2024. Sarah Johnson is now an art producer at Epic Games, after holding producer positions at Bungie, Secret Dimension, Hangar 13, and Telltale Games. Brian Trunk has taken the role of senior vice president of Route to Market for the Americas at Asmodee. Trunk has been a partner at Asmodee for over a decade and spent 17 years at Wizards of the Coast, most recently as vice president of commercial, digital games revenue, and the Wizards Play Network.
He also held VP and general manager responsibilities for EMEA, LATAM, and APAC regions. "I am grateful for my years at Wizards of the Coast and for the mentors who shaped me into the leader I am today," Trunk said. "I have always believed that successful businesses are built on great people, strong relationships, trust, and community. At Asmodee, those values intersect with my deep love of games, making this move feel personal and central to how I intend to lead." Rovio has promoted Wille Miljas to director of product marketing.
Miljas joined Rovio in 2024 as marketing lead, previously serving as central marketing director, head of marketing at Good Shepherd Entertainment and Redhill Games, and senior marketing manager for planning and strategy 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 has been elevated 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. Gabriel formerly led customer and developer success at Niantic Spatial and was senior developer relations manager at Niantic. Erik Meurk has been promoted to senior software engineer at King.
Meurk started as a Unity development intern in August 2023, became an associate software engineer in early 2024, and has since contributed to multiple live service titles. Stéfanie Grandchamp‑Dubé is now lead UX designer at Epic Games, after joining as senior UX designer in 2023 and previously working at Behaviour Interactive in the same capacity.
Jack Anderson joins Rebellion as a VFX artist, following VFX roles at nDreams and Interior/Night. David Scarborough becomes senior manager of EMEA communications at Blizzard Entertainment. Scarborough's prior experience includes senior account director at Brands2Life, head of communications at Inflexion Games, and senior roles at Improbable and Koch Media/Deep Silver. King appoints Esther Lopez as principal VFX artist.
Lopez first joined 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 her roots. "Returning to a familiar environment in a new role is a rare privilege," Lopez remarked. "King is where I grew up as an artist, and where many of my best memories were made, making this opportunity especially meaningful.
After nearly four years at Meta building immersive experiences, I hope to bring the best of that knowledge back with me." Magda Marcinkowska has been named production manager in marketing at CD Projekt Red, after serving as acting publishing operations director at Techland. Linh Lai becomes accounting assistant at Newzoo following a six‑month internship.
"The experience has given me insight into how individual accounting processes integrate with the broader business," Lai said. "I look forward to taking on more responsibility, deepening my finance knowledge, and helping make our accounting processes even more efficient as I grow with Newzoo." Tommi Virolainen joins Kokoon Games as senior game programmer, after tech programming work at Metacore and senior programming roles at Lightneer. Christopher Holtorf is appointed senior quest designer at CD Projekt Red, having previously served as senior narrative designer at Intrepid Studios. Amir Satvat becomes a general partner at 1Up Ventures, after a stint as business development director at Tencent Games.
Satvat also founded and leads Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC), a resource that helps job seekers break into the industry. "I wanted a role where I could directly influence hiring and help people return to work," he explained.
"Working with smaller studios aligns with my passion for games of that scale, and I value a community‑first environment. 1Up is a vital player in the games ecosystem, and I aim to support its unique investment approach for as long as possible." Lasse Seppänen announced his departure from Supercell after seven years, during which he progressed from producer in 2019 to head of game production services and eventually general manager for Supercell London.
"Now it's time to return to my passion for creating new IPs," Seppänen said. "I plan to launch my own studio in the UK in 2027; more details will follow when the time is right." Take‑Two Interactive has appointed Giles Derrington as director of global affairs for the UK, after previously leading public affairs at TikTok. Jess Pearce has been promoted to senior people partner at Kepler Interactive, having joined as a people advisor in 2022 and moved to people partner in 2024. Shreya Godha is now a producer at PlaySimple Games, after serving as associate producer at the same studio.
Epic Games named Kelly Ekins director of communications. Ekins previously held the senior director of global PR role for Unity's Games and Made with Unity program, and before that she was marketing lead for media and entertainment at Unity, following a tenure as studio lead for game marketing and communications at Warner Brothers Games Montreal. Housemarque co‑founder and managing director Ilari Kuittinen is stepping down after 31 years. Kuittinen co‑founded the studio with Harri Tikkanen in 1995 after merging Bloodhouse and Terramarque.
"Looking back, I feel immensely fortunate," Kuittinen reflected. "We were in the right place at the right time for three decades of industry growth, staying independent for 26 years before joining PlayStation Studios. The leadership transition has been carefully planned; on 1 July, Sami 'Haxu' Hakala officially assumed the managing director role, and I have continued supporting him and the team to ensure operational continuity.
Housemarque’s strategy and creative vision are in excellent hands." Tamara Feiman has been appointed CEO of Tripledot Studios' Lion Studios. Feiman began her career at Lion Studios in 2020 as EMEA business development lead, later becoming publishing general manager. "I joined Lion six years ago and have grown alongside the company through its biggest successes and challenges," Feiman said. "Lion’s strength lies in how we collaborate with partner studios, taking risks, learning quickly, and turning great ideas into games played by millions.
The company has never been about one person; I’m fortunate to work with an incredible team across publishing, growth, product, engineering, and market intelligence, as well as our talented studio partners worldwide." Heather Sangria joins Sega of America as community manager, after contract work as a social strategist and community lead at One More Game and a digital strategy role at Undead Labs. Emily Rose Chen has been promoted to senior product manager for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard, after starting as a financial analyst in 2020 and moving into product management.
Scot McCarron is now senior director of product management for Call of Duty at Activision Blizzard, having previously served as director of product management on the franchise and joining the company in 2018 as product marketing manager for emerging franchises.