January 2026's Movers and Shakers: Supercell’s new president, Kuro Games’ GM of Korea, Niantic names SVP of games, 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.

And, of course, we’ll be hosting a dedicated Career Zone at Pocket Gamer Connects London on January 19th and 20th.

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.

Additional reporting by Craig Chapple.