Ubisoft Names New CCO in January 2026 Jobs Roundup
▼ Summary
– Valentine Piedelievre-Eman has been appointed Chief Communications Officer at Ubisoft, where she will lead global communications and brand strategy, reporting to Executive Vice President Cécile Russeil.
– Dan Prigg has been named EVP and head of games at Paramount, responsible for executing the interactive entertainment strategy for Paramount and Skydance, including development and licensing.
– Secret Mode has hired Dan Robinson as VP of marketing and Ade Lawton as publishing director to lead marketing efforts and oversee major title publishing, respectively.
– Microsoft has promoted Terri Chudzik to a strategic governance role on its game content team and appointed Chris Leggett as Xbox senior communications manager.
– Several other leadership appointments include Jo Cooke as CEO of Frontier Developments, Jori Pearsall as SVP of Games at Niantic, and Katie Scott as head of Minecraft Vanilla at Mojang Studios.
Tracking the latest executive appointments and promotions across the gaming sector reveals a wave of strategic leadership changes aimed at driving growth and transformation. Valentine Piedelievre-Eman has been appointed Chief Communications Officer at Ubisoft, effective February 2026. She will be responsible for the company’s global communications and corporate brand strategy, reporting directly to Executive Vice President Cécile Russeil. Piedelievre-Eman brings extensive experience from her previous role as Vice President of Corporate Communications for Warner Bros. Discovery in Western Europe and Africa, along with senior positions at Expleo, SAP, and the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
At Paramount, Dan Prigg steps into the role of Executive Vice President and Head of Games. His mandate involves executing the long-term interactive entertainment strategy for both Paramount and Skydance, overseeing internal development, external publishing, and worldwide licensing. Prigg’s background includes a four-year tenure as Executive Vice President and Head of Studio at Skydance Interactive, along with roles at Scopely, GameHouse, and Spil Games.
Secret Mode has expanded its leadership by welcoming Dan Robinson as Vice President of Marketing and Ade Lawton as Publishing Director. Robinson will lead the full marketing team, drawing on prior experience as Group Commercial Director at Rebellion and executive roles at Motorsport Games and Codemasters. Lawton will oversee publishing for multiple major titles, leveraging his previous work at Kwalee, Team 17, and Codemasters.
Within Microsoft, Terri Chudzik has been promoted to Strategic Governance Partner on the Game Content & Studios COO team. A nearly three-decade veteran of the company, Chudzik previously served as General Manager and Product Manager for the Xbox platform. Additionally, Chris Leggett joins as Xbox Senior Communications Manager, returning to the brand after supporting Xbox communications at Assembly Media and a stint as PR Manager at Amazon Game Studios.
Frontier Developments has appointed Jo Cooke as its new Chief Executive Officer. Cooke, who returned to Frontier as Chief Marketing Officer in 2025 after initially joining in 2014, succeeds Jonny Watts. Her career includes leadership positions at Bastion, Bossa Studios, and Curve Games, beginning at Ocean Software in 1990.
Niantic has named Jori Pearsall as its Senior Vice President of Games. Pearsall will lead the Tokyo Studio and oversee cross-functional teams, bringing over six years of experience from Scopely where she rose from VP to SVP of Product and Studio General Manager.
Mojang Studios welcomes Katie Scott as the new Head of Minecraft Vanilla. Scott joins from Ubisoft where she served as Vice President of the Global Creative Game Office, and she previously held significant design roles at The Coalition Studio and Electronic Arts.
Nitro Games has promoted two internal leaders: Antti Ruonala to Chief Operating Officer and Milka Tarkiainen to Chief People Officer. Ruonala, previously Head of Operations, has been with the Finnish developer since 2014. Tarkiainen, formerly Director of PeopleOps, joined in 2017.
Kuro Games has hired Jay Kim as General Manager of Korea. Kim brings extensive regional management experience from Infold, Scopely, and Tilting Point, having begun his industry career at Razer in 2010.
Azra Games has elevated Johny Scaglione to Executive Producer. Scaglione, who joined in 2024 as Senior Director of Production, previously spent five years at Scopely and six years at Electronic Arts.
Theorycraft Games has promoted Jeremy Griffith to Creative Director. Griffith joined the studio in 2021 as Principal VFX Artist and served as Senior Game Designer, with prior experience at Cloud Chamber and Riot Games.
In the PR sector, Raptor PR has created its first dedicated business development role, hiring Chris Redgrave as Business Development Executive. Redgrave previously built his career at Aaardvark Swift Recruitment and founded the Game Scout Journal blog. Meanwhile, UberStrategist has promoted CJ Melendez to Vice President of Public Relations after a decade with the agency, recognizing his leadership and contributions to the team’s growth.
(Source: Games Industry)
