It can be difficult keeping track of the various comings and goings in the games industry, which is why we compile them in semi-regular round-ups.
If you have new appointments or transitions in your company that belong here, please send the names of the appointees, new role and company, and prior role and company to [email protected].
Ben Gunstone | CEO, Stainless Games
Stainless Games has appointed Ben Gunstone as CEO, while founder Patrick Buckland has become executive chairman.
Gunstone joined the developer in 2006 as production director, a role he held for nearly 13 years. He moved to GlobalStep in 2019 as UK general manager and then director of business development.
He then became executive producer of the Fishing franchise at Dovetail Games in 2021 before moving back to Stainless Games in 2022 as game director. He was promoted to operations director before becoming CEO.
Gunstone has been in the industry since 1992, working as a hotliner for Nintendo. He then worked in QA and production at SCI Games for ten years, and was senior producer for external production at Sega for three years.
“Ben has been a huge part of our journey over the last 20 years,” said Stainless Games. “Now he’s leading the charge as we continue to create awesome games for our clients, build up our projects, and team up with even more AAA and AA studios as a trusted co-development partner.”
Tim Coupe and Clive Moody join Steel City Interactive
Steel City Interactive has announced the appointment of Tim Coupe as VP of studio and Clive Moody as VP of product development.
Coupe’s prior role was at Electronic Arts as head of studio operations for EA Sports UK. He joined the developer in 2021 as director of product development, and then became head of operations.
Coupe started in the industry as a programmer, before becoming VP of mobile and handheld at Warthog Games in 1999, then moved to EA as development director in 2003.
He was studio development manager at Eurocom for over seven years, before becoming executive producer at Jagex in 2012. Coupe joined Codemasters in 2015 as senior development director, before leaving in 2018 to work at Palringo and Curve Development.
Coupe returned to Codemasters in 2020 as executive producer, becoming director of product development then head of operations.
“My years at EA Sports and Codemasters have helped shape my experience of sports franchises,” said Coupe. “Sharing [Steel City Interactive CEO] Ash Habib’s vision for Steel City Interactive and Undisputed, I believe we will create the definitive boxing video game franchise.”
Moody also worked at Codemasters for over two decades. He left in 2024 as SVP of product development, and has been involved in the development and delivery of multiple franchises.
“What Ash and the team have created is incredible,” Moody added. “The ambition going beyond what’s been achieved to date is genuinely exciting, and too good an opportunity not to be part of helping to shape and deliver.”
Christine Brownell | Senior design director – Games, Lego Digital Play
Christine Brownell has joined Lego Digital Play as senior design director after working at Sumo Digital as director of live ops.
Brownell joined the industry in 2003, working at Blizzard Entertainment as a QA software analyst then quest designer. She moved to NetDevil in 2005 as content designer and lead content designer, then lead world designer at Perpetual Entertainment in 2006.
Brownell worked at EA as senior game designer at Maxis in 2008, before becoming creative director of Playfish in 2011. She was also creative director at Scopely for nearly three years, joining in 2019.
Before joining Sumo Digital in 2024, Brownell was franchise design director at Media Molecule and game director at PlayStation London Studio.
“As someone who’s always believed in the power of play, and who grew up building, storytelling, and imagining things with Lego, this role feels deeply meaningful,” Brownell said.
“I’m also feeling lucky and grateful for the chance to join a team led by Aaron Loeb, someone I’ve had the pleasure of working with before and have huge respect for.”
Matthew Pellett and Holly Cooper appointed new roles at Secret Mode
Secret Mode has appointed Matthew Pellett as platform engagement director and Holly Cooper as head of communications.
Pellett joined Secret Mode in 2022 as PR and communications manager, then PR and communications director in 2024.
He made his start in the industry in 2007 as a staff writer at Xbox World 360 magazine. He was also editor at GamesMaster Magazine and the Official PlayStation Magazine.
Pellett worked at Dead Good Media for nearly four years, starting as media and influencer consultant, then PR account manager and senior PR account manager.
“After 18 years spent in the media, media relations, and marketing realm, I’m mixing things up,” said Pellett.
“I’m delighted to step into a platform engagement director position at Secret Mode, where I’ll be focused on our store pages, first-party platform visibility, digital event and festival participation, and much more besides.”
Cooper joined Secret Mode in 2024 as product marketing manager. In January this year, she was promoted to senior product marketing manager before becoming head of communications.
Prior to Secret Mode, she worked at Frontier Developments as product marketing manager. She also worked at Team17 for almost four years, starting as junior PR and events manager in 2017, before climbing the ladder to PR and events manager then junior brand manager.
Cooper also held positions of field executive and PR executive at Ubisoft.
“I’ve been given an amazing opportunity to jump back into comms as head of communications at Secret Mode,” said Cooper. “I started my industry career in PR and events, and I’m excited to jump back in.
“Huge thanks to Matthew Pellett for trusting me with this incredible team and to the senior leadership at Secret Mode for the opportunity to take this next step in my career.”
Ben Parfitt | UX writer, Sony Interactive Entertainment
Ben Parfitt has joined Sony Interactive Entertainment as a UX writer.
Parfitt has been in the gaming industry since 2005, starting as associate editor at MCV/Develop. He was also a freelance writer, contributing to The Guardian, Kotaku, and GamesIndustry.biz.
In 2018, Parfitt joined Jagex as associate editorial director – a position he held for just over four years. He then became senior web editor at Creative Assembly in 2022, leaving the position in January 2024.
Partfitt returned to freelancing before his latest position at Sony.