February 2026's Movers and Shakers: Shifts at Steel Media, Sega’s new CFO, Unity's board room shuffle, and more

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.

Leadership changes at Steel Media

Pocket Gamer’s own Chris James is shifting into the role of chairman, where he will focus on strategy and international growth.

A co-founder of Pocket Gamer, James has long served as managing director and CEO. The Steel Media Ltd management team levels up after a successful Pocket Gamer Connects London 2026, just in time for the Pocket Gamer brand to enter its 20th year.

"I honestly could not be prouder of the team and what we’ve done so far - and my love for this amazing industry has certainly not lessened over time, so I’m definitely not leaving," said James.

"However, after 20 years at the wheel, it does feel like a good opportunity to step back from the front line and take some time to think about the bigger picture and consider the wider landscape of industry opportunities from a different vantage point."

Also at Steel Media, COO Dave Bradley is taking on the role of general manager after one full decade with the company.

He first joined in 2016 as operations manager and in his years as COO, has been closely associated with editorial, events and marketing operations. Bradley’s next role will see him assume day-to-day leadership.

"It's a privilege to step into a leadership role at a company so beloved by the industry. The industry has seen Steel Media grow from a UK media team championing mobile games into a global force for good," he said.

Sega CFO and board member shifts at Unity

Irina Kim has been appointed as chief financial officer at Sega Europe.

Working in London, Kim’s new position comes after 16 months in a CFO role at Product Madness. Her career also spans two years as VP global finance at Pixel United and almost 12 years in various roles at Unilever.

"I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Chief Financial Officer at Sega Europe," she posted on LinkedIn.

Former Unity CEO and founder David Helgason has departed from the board of directors after more than 20 years at the company. He stepped down from his CEO role in 2014 but has remained on the board since then.

Meanwhile, former Zynga president of publishing and Match Group CEO Bernard Kim has joined Unity’s board as an independent director.

"Unity plays a foundational role in how interactive experiences are created, distributed and scaled. I’ve long admired the company’s impact on the industry, and I’m excited to work with the board and leadership team as Unity accelerates its mission to democratise game development," he said.

Building at Bastion and lead promotion at Socialpoint

Rebekah Nicodemus is heading up Bastion America, a new agency bringing Bastion’s reach to studios and publishers across North America.

Nicodemus has made this move after nearly a decade at Amazon, leaving her role as international and executive communications lead, AWS. Earlier in her career, she also spent over six years at Grayling working with studios like Blizzard Entertainment and Ignite Game Technologies.

"It’s been nearly a decade since I’ve announced a new position, and this one was worth the wait! I’m over the moon to share that I’ve joined Dean Barrett, Ravi Vijh and the rest of the world-class team at Bastion, as managing director for Bastion America," she posted on LinkedIn.

Tatiana Dutra Munhoz has been promoted to marketing art lead at Socialpoint.

The promotion has come during her fifth year with the company and marks her fourth art-related role in that time. Most recently, she served as senior art outsource manager.

"Happy to share that I’ve been promoted to Marketing Art Lead at Socialpoint / Zynga. I’m truly grateful for the trust and support of the incredible people I get to work with. This new role is an exciting step forward and an amazing opportunity," she posted on LinkedIn.

Many changes at Kabam

Brooklyn Delorme is now development director two on Contest of Champions at Kabam.

Meanwhile, Marina Corrêa has taken a promotion to senior product manager. Jimmy Valentine has become research and insights lead, while Rayn Dorsett’s promotion is to senior game designer.

At the same time, Matthew Louie has been promoted from senior technical artist to principal technical designer, and newcomer Kat Bow has joined as senior partnerships manager.

New hires at Gameloft, HoYoverse, Snowprint Studios and more

Jeff Karp has joined GameRamp’s advisory board, with his scope already spanning Zynga, AppLovin, EA and more.

Benoit Le Forban has returned to Gameloft as producer after four years away. In the interim, he’s worked at Ubisoft Montreal and Raccoon Logic.

Robin Lau has departed Dentsu to take on a new position at HoYoverse, where he’s working as senior global brand partnerships.

David Weiner has officially joined Rovio as interim head of marketing creative strategy and technology after spending most of last year working on Sonic Rumble’s launch.

Rainer Selvet is Netflix’s new director, games engineering.

Alexandre Salem is now president of Arcade.com, set to lead operations, strategy, publishing partnerships and global expansion.

Rasmus Hallberg has joined Snowprint Studios as senior producer.

Braxton Lancial has joined Stash as lead partner success manager.

Neon has hired Maxime Regh to build out its Payment Risk area, set to begin in the coming weeks.

Ahmad Gazia has joined Scopely’s Mirai as director of marketing and community growth.

Tencent has hired Miloš Jeřábek as executive producer.

Kuuasema has hired Tomi Hurskainen as senior game designer.

Haider CW has been hired as director of product at Homa.

Latest promotions at ZBD, InnoGames,

Playtika has promoted Ofer Klein to product group manager.

Brett Partridge has been promoted to head of data, CRM and marketing technology at InnoGames.

Nur Ugurlu has been promoted to senior business development manager at ZBD.

Raja Rose has stepped into a new role as director of trust, safety and values at Apple.

Gadsme has promoted Joe Burton to director of gaming partnerships.

Yodo1 Games has promoted Emma Myall to recruitment lead during her 10th year in the games industry.

King’s Samuel Kondic has been promoted to international talent acquisition team leader.

High-level hires at Supercell and Team17

Jon Rosenblatt has joined Supercell as VP of global marketing for Clash of Clans.

He brings decades of marketing experience from Ubisoft, EA Sports and most recently Amazon Games, where he’s spent the better part of nine years. Most recently, he served as Amazon Games’ publishing director, EMEA.

Rosenblatt also founded his own company, Brandtix, and served as its CEO between 2012 and 2017.

"Clash of Clans has been one of the most popular and iconic games of the last fifteen years, and it’s a privilege to help shape what comes next. Even more exciting is the opportunity to work alongside such a talented team, at a company whose culture and vision truly resonate with me," he posted on LinkedIn.

Harriet Hughes has been hired as portfolio director at Team17. Reporting to general manager Harley Homewood, her focus will be on a number of Team17’s most iconic IP with the aim of building long-term franchise value.

Hughes role will also include taking a player-centric approach to expanding new releases and the company’s back catalogue.

"A huge thanks to everyone at Team17 for the warm welcome. I can’t wait to get properly stuck in!" she posted on LinkedIn.

New opportunities at Scopely and Azerion

After more than five years at Kabam, Bryan Brandt has taken up the vice president, GM role at Scopely.

The move sees him stay in Canada, where he’s previously worked for Hothead Games, Radical Entertainment and EA. His industry experience spans over 25 years with major credits including Marvel Contest of Champions, Marvel Realm of Champions and Hero Hunters.

"5.5 years and what a wild ride of learning, experimenting, sometimes losing, but always striving to find a win," Brandt posted on LinkedIn.

"Hats off to the stellar Marvel Contest of Champions team for taking a chance on me as their leader."

Azerion has promoted Yuliya Nabieva to chief business officer, following two years as VP of gaming and strategic partnerships.

She’s been with Azerion since 2019 and has further experience from Alawar Entertainment and Spil Games. In her new role she will continue to drive Azerion’s games business.

"I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as chief business officer at Azerion. I will continue driving growth for Azerion’s gaming businesses, including Azerion Triple-A Games Distribution and Azerion Casual Games distribution platforms,” Nabieva posted on LinkedIn.

Product and marketing at Homa and Outfit7

Chase Searle has been promoted to team lead product at Homa after one year with the company.

She joined Homa in 2025 as senior product manager, following multiple product management roles at NaturalMotion. Now, Searle is working in live ops and feature development, while also serving as a BAFTA Games member.

"I’m happy to share that I’ve recently been promoted to Team Lead Product at Homa," she posted on LinkedIn.

Talking Tom maker Outfit7 has appointed Artem Kadykov as its new VP of marketing.

He’s brought more than 10 years of experience in mobile games to the role, having most recently led marketing initiatives for Subway Surfers developer Sybo. Outfit7 hired him as the company looks to expand mobile and PC efforts with its new division, PlayValley.

"I was drawn to Outfit7 by the genuine joy Talking Tom & Friends brings to millions of people. I'm excited to build on this strong foundation and be part of the team that defines what's next for the company's future," said Artem.

New hires at Stillfront, Crunchyroll, Hutch and more

Carly Taylor has joined Crunchyroll as VP of its Concepts Lab, heading up strategy and execution of early-stage concepts. She brings experience from Activision Blizzard, Microsoft and more.

José de Jesús Preciado Narvaez has joined Azra Games as VIP manager.

Manuel Llamas has been hired by Stillfront as head of AI, where he will explore the latest generative AI tools and develop proprietary algorithms.

Pablo Calatayud Tapia has joined Netflix as senior technical game designer.

Former Konami tech director Julien Merceron has joined Delphi Interactive as CTO, set to oversee a reimagined FIFA simulation launching on Netflix later this year.

Justin Paine has joined Roblox as senior director of business development.

Dish Eldishnawy has been hired as senior director of product at Scopely.

Lital Jaffe has joined PlayStudios as director of product.

Shaunak Vaichal has returned to the games industry with his new role as creative director on F1 Clash at Hutch.

Sergei Vasiuk has been hired by Xsolla as product director.

Promotions and job shifts at Homa, Gadsme, Huuuge Games and more

Michelle Gimsing has been promoted to business development manager at Code Wizards Group as she enters her second year with the company.

Ayush Singh is Homa’s new chief product officer and group GM - RPG.

Damian Finan has been promoted to VP of player services and VIP at Huuuge Games.

Activision has appointed Hannah Untereiner to the role of strategy and operations, global marketing.

Emily Wang is now a partner, CFO and COO at Griffin, after two years as a partner and COO. Jakob Longer has joined as an investor.

Xsolla has promoted Zachary S. to the role of regional VP.

Diego Alaluf has been promoted to group VP at SciPlay, where he’s worked since 2019.

Krafton has promoted Tracy Kim to head of business and operations.

Natalia Pakhomova and Antoine Jullemier have both been promoted to VP supply at Gadsme.

Andrea Thrift is taking on a new role as strategic consultant at Sensor Tower.

Accel’s Cecilia Wang has been promoted from vice president to principal.

Ekaterina Sizova is the new revenue operations lead at AppMagic.

Kabam’s James Assayag has been promoted to senior game designer.

Lauren Sears is now senior talent and engagement specialist at Wushu Studios.

Nicholas Bloom has been promoted to senior strategic partnerships manager at exmox.

Bryce Baer is now senior director, Xbox ecosystem marketing at Microsoft.