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To keep you up to date with the latest movers and shakers in the mobile games industry, we’ve put together a regular roundup of the latest hires, promotions and, in some cases, exits.
If you’ve recently joined a company or bagged a big promotion, or you’re an employer that’s just made a hire, drop us an email at news@pocketgamer.biz.
And, of course, we’ll be hosting a dedicated Career Zone at Pocket Gamer Connects London on January 19th and 20th.
Additional reporting by Craig Chapple.
Senior layoffs at Meta Reality Labs and Unity
Meta has laid off its global head of developer relations Melissa Brown as part of sweeping layoffs at the firm’s Reality Labs Division.
Brown joined Oculus in 2020, prior to its rebrand to Reality Labs, and has worked in developer relations for nearly six years at the company. She has previously worked at GameDev.net, Ultra, and Overclock Agency.
The news comes after The New York Times reported that Meta is cutting around 10% of staff at Reality Labs, which employs around 15,000 staff.
Three studios are also being closed, including Sanzaru Games, Twisted Pixel Games and Armature Studio.
“As you’ve no doubt heard, Meta did some deep cuts this morning and in addition to myself, many of my incredibly talented co-workers are going to be looking for new jobs in the next few months,” said Brown.
“Although we worked as a games division, all of us are versatile for a variety of roles in a variety of industries. Meta prides itself on moving quickly and operating in ambiguity so have no doubt that anyone who has spent some amount of time at the company is more than ready to tackle difficult problems in emerging spaces and create something meaningful.”
Unity has laid off director of community and advocacy Larry Hryb after 18 months with the technology and ads firm.
Hryb was previously at Microsoft for around 23 years and became one of the key faces of Xbox, known as Major Nelson. At Unity, he managed the community and advocacy teams to help drive platform adoption.
“After nearly three decades of making an impact at Microsoft, I joined Unity in 2024. During my time there, I rebuilt their Community and Advocacy Team with a deliberate strategy that created a clearer, more connected experience for creators, developers, and gamers,” said Hryb.
“We brought energy back to channels that had gone quiet, restored trust, and showed up consistently where it mattered. I elevated Unity’s visibility at PAX and key industry events, strengthened relationships, and ensured Unity had a clear voice in the broader conversation.
“Good communication was critical to that work. We told better stories, rebuilt confidence in the brand, and experimented with emerging platforms to meet audiences where they already were. We aligned community engagement directly with product strategy, so creators and players experienced a more cohesive Unity. Making that connection tangible again was meaningful, and I’m proud of what the team accomplished.”
Scopely’s senior hire and Jagex’s senior exit
Monopoly Go developer Scopely has named former Supercell GM Jimmy Lee as VP of strategic marketing, working across the company’s live games portfolio.
Lee has extensive experience in the industry, working as head of marketing and publishing at Booyah before joining Supercell in 2013. He worked at the Clash of Clans studio for 10 years across various roles, including global marketing lead, media and marketing analytics; GM and game lead for new games; and special projects.
“After taking much of last year to reflect on what I truly wanted in my next chapter, I realised I wanted to be part of a company that truly strives for greatness and where I could personally drive impact,” said Lee. “That led me to join Scopely late last year as VP, Strategic Marketing, working across the live games portfolio.
“For those who know me, it won’t be a surprise that culture is what ultimately drew me in. The emphasis on caring deeply and iterating to greatness strongly resonate with how I like to work and build, and the company’s ambition and speed in pushing what’s possible made this an especially compelling opportunity.
“After a few months in, I’ve been especially impressed by the people, their resilience, grit, generosity, and will to win. I’m excited to partner with multiple game teams and the talented marketing organisation I’ve inherited to tackle the hard problems of running and scaling great live games.”
Jagex creative design director Mark Ogilvie has left the RuneScape developer after 23 years.
He first joined the company as a quality assurance specialist back in 2003. Ogilvie has since worked his way up through the studio into roles such as design director and creative director, prior to his most recent role.
His work included bringing RuneScape to mobile devices, following its success on PC.
“I wrapped up my time at Jagex in August, closing an incredible 23-year chapter helping to shape, design, and direct the MMORPG RuneScape,” said Ogilvie.
“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities I was given to grow into the man I am today. I’ve worked with some amazing people and we’ve made some genre defining games. I genuinely look forward to seeing what’s next for my digital home.
“To the community – I’ll miss you the most. You really are the best.”
Aghanim appoints new CRO and COO
Mobile games fintech company Aghanim has named Conor McLaughlin as its new chief revenue officer and Valentina Sevodina as its chief operating officer.
Prior to his role as CRO, McLaughlin served as VP of revenue and partnerships (Americas and EU) at the company, where he led commercial strategy across key Western markets.
Sevodina, meanwhile, has built a senior operations career spanning mobile games, commerce, and technology platforms, with a focus on scaling teams, systems, and global operations. She first served as the company’s head of operations from 2024 to 2026.
“When I first saw what Constantin Andry, Konstantin Golubitsky, and Albert Tugushev had built, I instantly knew it was something revolutionary,” McLaughlin wrote in a post.
“It has been a privilege over the past year to work alongside the top fintech-meets-gaming experts in the direct-to-consumer space.
“Excited for the next stage of our journey and look forward to continue working in the best interests of our partners who see value through noise. More to come.”
Hires at Supercell, Nitro Games, Miniclip and more
Supercell has named former Pixel United technical director and ex-Rovio senior technical manager Jussi Lassila as tech lead.
Nitro Games has promoted product lead Collin Foss to the position of creative director.
Miniclip’s Oyku Onder has started a new position as the creative manager for 8 Ball Pool. She was previously senior marketing/multimedia artist at the publisher.
Maria V has headed to Netflix studio Night School as a producer. She previously worked at Lightspeed LA as an associate producer.
Blizzard has appointed ex-Scopely performance marketing manager Lucas Rossi as senior manager for mobile user acquisition.
Yunus Emre Özbay has joined Everyday as technical UI artist. He’s previously worked at companies including Ace Games and Estoty Vilnius.
Movers at Outfit7, UKIE, Offroad Games, and more
Outfit7 has promoted both Nina Dejak and Tilen Kreft to the role of senior data scientist.
UK games industry trade body UKIE’s Kiera Beasley has been appointed as business development officer.
Singular has promoted Ana Laura Cercó to the position of manager of solution engineering LATAM.
Offroad Games has named lead game designer Vera Zaitceva as game lead.
Sensor Tower senior business development representative Emma O’Brien has started a new role as account executive at the market intelligence firm.
Annapurna Interactive has hired former Netflix live service / production QA lead Maya Taylor as QA manager.
Merak Capital VP Abdulelah Alsharif has been named as principal at the asset management firm.
The Mobile Growth Association has appointed Ella Berylo as chapter president.
New recruits at Stash, Supercell, and Jagex
Stash has hired former Homa principal recruit Tim Patchen in the same position at the direct-to-consumer firm.
Former Voodoo principal UX/UI designer Tobiasz Konieczny has been recruited by Supercell as UI/UX designer.
Sami Kuronen has started a new position at Supercell as game artist / new game founder. She was previously a game artist on the Spark Program.
AppsFlyer has promoted Safa Krayem to regional marketing manager.
Ex-Miniclip business development manager Govind Cacciatore has joined Agora Gaming Partners as head of games.
Jagex has appointed former Footballco solicitor and Women in Games ambassador Elaahe Farsimadan as legal counsel.
Supercell’s new president and Entity’s new head of games
Sara Bach has been promoted to president at Supercell, with multiple departments now coming together under the live games banner that she will be responsible for.
Formerly the Clash of Clans developer’s chief live games officer, the shift sees Bach responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations as the studio becomes “bigger and more complex”. Departments included in the live games division are game tech, business operations, marketing and community, and people.
“This is a big responsibility and an incredibly important role for Supercell,” said Supercell CEO and co-founder Ilkka Paananen.
“Sara has already shown exceptional leadership in how she runs our live games and how she thinks about our players. She combines deep experience from scaled organisations with being 100% true to Supercell’s culture – a rare and powerful mix.”
Former Tag Games CEO Paul Farley has made the move to Entity, serving as head of games for the web gaming platform.
The new role sees Farley lead development on Entity’s games strategy, with an emphasis on building its games team and helping determine the way in which titles are created and distributed. He will also aim to secure existing games and new IPs for the platform.
Farley brings more than 20 years of experience to the company, having worked across game development, publishing, and live ops in entrepreneurial and executive leadership roles.
Management moves at Stillfront Group and Kuro Games
Stillfront Group fast-tracked Emily Villatte to her new role as chief financial officer, joining the executive management team one month ahead of schedule.
Villatte has more than 15 years of experience in tech, financial services, and operational leadership. Her latest role was as CFO and deputy CEO of Acast, where she spent the past six years.
“I am excited to join Stillfront as Group CFO. Stillfront has had an impressive journey and has taken a strong position in the global gaming market,” Villatte stated.
Her joining Stillfront has allowed interim CFO Tim Holland to return to his duties as Deputy Group CFO.
Wuthering Waves maker Kuro Games has hired Jay Kim as general manager of Korea, set to lead the country’s branch and strengthen Kuro’s connection with local communities.
Kim brings 15 years of leadership experience in games and interactive entertainment, with his latest roles spanning Infold Games, Scopely and Tilting Point. Earlier in his career he served as Korean country manager at Razer and Glu Mobile.
“I have always admired developers who prioritize player experience above all else. Kuro Games is a perfect example of this,” Kim posted on LinkedIn.
“As the developer behind such a beloved IP, Kuro Games has shown what is possible when technical innovation meets a player-first mindset.”
Building teams and expanding IPs at Niantic and Outfit7
Jori Pearsall has been hired as senior vice president of games for Niantic’s Tokyo Studio, set to oversee cross-functional teams focused on real-world experiences. He’s also hiring in the US and Tokyo.
The Scopely-owned teams work on geolocation games leveraging popular IPs, namely Monster Hunter Now and Pikmin Bloom, mobile games which have each generated nine-figure sums.
Pearsall is also an investor and advisor, the founder of Jbird Insights, and brings more than six years’ experience at Scopely back around to the studio.
“I couldn’t be more happy to be working with such a talented and passionate group of people who care deeply about Niantic’s mission to inspire people to get outside and explore the world together,” he said.
“It’s the perfect full circle moment for me bringing together my personal interests and all of my professional experience to date.”
Outfit7 has appointed Borut Vovk as its new head of business development, bringing more than 15 years of experience in tech and mobile. He will aim to expand the Talking Tom & Friends franchise to more formats, working with major platforms and exploring IP partnerships.
Vovk’s new role will also see him develop monetisation and advertising solutions.
“Our goal is to bring Talking Tom & Friends, and our future projects, to more devices, platforms, and formats. By building strong partnerships and new content experiences, we want to create steady growth for our products and partners,” said Vovk.
New roles and jobs shifts at AviaGames, NetEase, Nitro Games, and more
Yingfeng Ding has stepped down from his role as executive VP and head of the interactive entertainment group at NetEase, leaving the Chinese publisher after 23 years. Though retiring, he will continue to act as a consultant for the company.
Industry veteran Michelle Zou has been selected to lead European market growth and investment initiatives at AviaGames’ new German subsidiary.
Antti Ruonala has been promoted to COO at Nitro Games, while Milka Tarkiainen has been promoted to CPO. Both have been long-time team members, with Nitro since 2014 and 2017 respectively.
Menlo Ventures has promoted general counsel Deborah Carrillo to a partner of the firm.
Playrix GM Anton Boyko has been named as product director at the company, managing development of hit mobile game Gardenscapes.
Jeff Resnick has been promoted to VP of global consumer insights at Aristocrat Leisure.
Terri Chudzik has joined Microsoft’s Game Content & Studios COO team as she commences her 30th year at the company, now a partner of strategic governance.
Katie Scott has been hired as Mojang’s head of Minecraft Vanilla, set to start in February.
Movers at Supercell, Playtika, Scopely, Rovio, and more
Dan Prigg has been named as Paramount’s EVP and head of games, covering studios, publishing and licensing at Paramount and Skydance.
After almost eight years at Sony Pictures Animation, Alex Baskin has made the move to Supercell as production manager of film and TV.
Supercell has also ex-King associate principal artist Paul Lamy de La Chapelle as art lead for new games. His team’s project was recently greenlit.
Miloš Stojaković has departed Outfit7 after six years to join Rovio as design director.
Aman Ullah Khan has joined Scopely’s Mirai as senior finance manager.
Gadi Shoshani is Playtika’s new VP of marketing strategy.
Lil Snack has hired Pete Vigeant as director of game design, bringing experience leading teams of designers, developers and artists.
Etisalat UAE’s Meena George has joined Abu Dhabi Gaming as head of esports.
Epic Games has appointed former Qualia Labs chief legal officer Reggie Davis as its new general counsel.
New recruits at Balancy, Toca Boca, The Raine Group, and others
Tal Shem Tov has taken up a new position at Unity, moving from business operations lead to Grow sales ops and deal desk team lead.
Former DICE studio creative director Craig Morrison is now design director at Toca Boca.
Steel Media alum Ana Bogacheva is now business development lead at Balancy.
Gamma EVP of strategy and operations Robert Frech has rejoined The Raine Group as MD based in New York. He worked at the global merchant bank for nearly 10 years in a previous stint at the firm.
WildCard Games has recruited ex-Scopely senior specialist for creative intelligence Leyla Guliyeva as junior acquisition manager.
Lobah’s Shereen Abbas has started a new role at the company as talent acquisition manager, having previously held the position of executive assistant.
AppLovin has promoted business development analyst Kate Srebrodolskaya to the role of senior analyst.
Fresh appointments at Unity, Kwalee, Adjoe and Reddit
Ex-Kwalee senior manager for business development Shilpa Menon is now the head of business development at GameRamp.
Anurag Singh has joined Kwalee as senior game designer, having worked in the same role previously at Cympl Studios.
Unity’s Yuqing Wang has started a new role at the company as senior product growth manager. She previously worked as senior account manager at the firm.
Former Adjoe senior supply partnerships manager Sena Erverdi has joined Neon as senior sales manager.
Reddit’s Edward Syson has been promoted to the role of senior client partner for global gaming and technology.
