Merge Mansion developer Metacore has appointed former Deliver Hero senior director of engineering Sérgio Laranjeira as its new chief technology officer, marking the first key hire at the company's new Berlin studio.

Laranjeira is due to start in the role in January and will be responsible for development of Metacore’s infrastructure and technology platform.

He will be focus on strengthening Merge Mansion live ops, building the company’s tech stack and developing its capabilities to support multiple live games.

Plenty to offer

Laranjeira brings experience from his senior role at Delivery Hero as well as engineering manager roles at Zalando and N26, leading teams for major consumer brands.

Metacore has been scaling up its recruitment over the last three years, having grown from a team of 15 to more than 200. Its Berlin studio marks the Finnish company's first international expansion.

"To build world-class games, we need world-class technology – especially given the technological complexity of modern mobile games," said Metacore CEO Mika Tammenkoski.

"Sérgio is a crucial and long-awaited addition to our rapidly growing team: he’s led large engineering teams for some of the world’s best-known consumer brands, and has hands-on experience in building complex tech products.

"His work will not only support our Merge Mansion team, but above all, enable us to build a technology platform capable of supporting a portfolio of hit games."

Laranjeira added: "Metacore’s growth journey is impressive, and there’s a massive potential to be untapped with building a portfolio of games. I’m embracing the challenge of a new tech setup that will help the company grow even further.

"Working in gaming has been a long time dream for me and I can’t wait to join the talented and passionate team in January and bring my experience to the benefit of creating new hit games."