Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions and departures in the games sector can be a real challenge, which is why we publish periodic round‑ups of the most noteworthy moves. If you know of any new appointments or role changes that belong in this list, please forward the name, new title, company, and previous position to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. Former Epic Games executive Ben Board has been installed as chief executive officer of The Performance Guys, the optimisation arm of CodeDev Group.
Board first joined Epic in 2017 as a developer support manager, later becoming business development director for the Epic Game Store and Unreal Engine. His résumé also includes senior leadership stints at Bullfrog Productions, Lionhead Studios and BossAlien. "Ben is a true industry heavy‑hitter whose reputation and technical authority speak for themselves," said CodeDev Group founder Myke Parrot. "He understands game development from every angle – from writing engine scripts to managing developer relations for the world’s biggest platforms and engines.
Bringing Ben in as CEO of The Performance Guys sends an unmistakable message to the market: if your game has a performance problem on any engine, we have the best team on the planet to fix it." James Turner has rejoined The Pokémon Company International, this time as creative director of Pokémon Art and Design. Turner originally left Game Freak in 2022 to co‑found All Possible Futures with Jonathan Biddle; the studio released its debut title, The Plucky Squire, in September 2024. His return signals a renewed focus on artistic direction within the Pokémon brand.
Billy King has been named lead concept artist at Respawn Entertainment. King previously held the same title at ZeniMax Online Studios and was senior concept artist at Amazon Games, bringing a wealth of experience in high‑profile franchise visual development. Sam Duncombe steps into the role of brand marketing manager at Team17 after serving as product manager for games and film at Warner Bros.
Discovery. His background in both interactive and cinematic content will help bridge the two mediums for the UK‑based publisher.
Cansu Karahan Can joins Loom Games as people and culture manager, having previously performed the same function at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion). She will oversee talent acquisition, employee wellbeing and organisational development for the indie studio. Christopher Wulf has been promoted to senior business development manager at Fellow Traveller. Wulf, who entered the company in 2021, previously worked for The Triple‑i Initiative as senior business and event manager, giving him a strong foundation in partnership building.
Julie Derhak becomes a producer for Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast. Derhak spent seven years at Epic Games, where she contributed to Fortnite Tech Art and the Lego‑Fortnite collaboration, adding valuable live‑service expertise to the tabletop giant. Alvaro Menéndez is appointed international social lead at Mojang Studios.
Before this, he served as senior marketing manager for Epic Games in Madrid, where he oversaw global community initiatives. Linus Johnsson receives a promotion to senior audio designer at Frontier Developments. Johnsson joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has since progressed through the sound team, now shaping the auditory experience of upcoming titles.
Nate Nanzer departs Epic Games after a seven‑year tenure to become executive vice‑president, head of commercial & marketing at Paramount Games. Nanzer’s most recent Epic role was senior vice‑president of partnerships and monetisation. He said, "The scale of the ambition and vision here for what's next is incredibly exciting. I've spent my career at the intersection of games, entertainment, and fandom, and the opportunity to help build what comes next at Paramount was simply too compelling to pass up." Julia Gutnik is named head of media at Amazon Gaming.
Gutnik previously led media, social and analytics for Kia America and spent over six years at Prime Video and Amazon Studios as head of digital and ad‑tech media. She remarked, "After two years navigating the auto industry, I am returning to my entertainment roots, and to the place that shaped me into a global marketing leader." Lorna Antoniazzi takes on the position of art producer at Studio MDHR, after producing at Roarty Digital where she contributed to Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Aysu Kutbay becomes product manager at Grand Games, having earlier managed products at Rollic.
David Bailey returns to Games Workshop as lead commercial manager – licensing. Bailey originally joined the company in 2019 as senior licensing manager, left in 2021 for a director role at Sumo Digital, and now says, "It's a privilege to return to the vast and evergreen Warhammer universes to help spearhead new business for licensing here." Liana Murphy is appointed account director for US operations at Second Stage after serving concurrently as COO and head of public relations at Vicariously and V Publishing. Tim Coombs becomes head of brand marketing for Amazon Luna. Coombs previously directed brand management at Xbox (2020‑2026) and held product marketing roles for Amazon Lumberyard and Amazon Game Tech.
Erik Mogensen exits Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast after three years as senior director of business development for digital gaming. His prior 23‑year stint at Games Workshop culminated as head of business development and consumer product licensing.
He reflected, "It's not lost on me how special it's been to have worked on, and for, my favourite brands. First Warhammer, and most recently Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Transformers… the list goes on. I'm very much looking forward to my next chapter, whatever and wherever that may be." Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as senior producer.
Rubin previously produced two mobile titles for Netflix – Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset – and spent five years at Riot Games working on creative development for the League of Legends IP. Andrey Odintsov is appointed head of marketing at Battlestate Games after serving as user acquisition manager at Multicast Games and working as an independent growth consultant. Dan Lazarides becomes chief marketing officer at Frontier Developments, following senior vice‑president of marketing duties at Sega Europe.
Frontier CEO Jo Cooke said, "We are delighted to welcome Dan to Frontier, who brings a wealth of experience on some of the industry's largest IP. His leadership in this genre will continue Frontier's upward momentum and highlight our focus on our communities." Karen Ionescu is hired as digital sales manager at Kalypso Media UK. Ionescu brings experience from Numskull Games, Nintendo and Rising Star Games. Managing director Andrew Johnson praised her extensive retail and digital channel relationships.
Hannah Barrett is promoted to senior account executive at esports and gaming communications agency Swipe Right, after joining as an account executive in December 2025. Supercell adds Anni Pyy as contract manager; Pyy previously held the same role at Metacore for four years. Nathan Solbrandt becomes senior vice‑president of business development at fintech platform ZBD, after senior account work at Motorica and a VP role at Xsolla for the Americas.
Olivia Lee is appointed internal events producer at Riot Games, having earlier been associate producer for internal events and programs. Ciarah Pritchard joins Xsolla as account coordinator, after serving as account performance manager at Playback Rewards.
Tracey Thompson returns to Bethesda as vice‑president of communications. Thompson originally joined Bethesda in 2009, later moved to Electronic Arts in 2019, and now says, "I'm looking forward to partnering with the talented people across Bethesda and Xbox, supporting the teams behind some of the most iconic franchises in entertainment, and helping bring their creativity and vision to players around the world." Maddie Richter becomes social media marketing manager at Nintendo of America, after a stint as social media manager at Alaska Airlines.
Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as narrative designer, following senior narrative design work at Series Entertainment. Yogscast Games announces three new hires: Charlotte Willis (PR and influencer manager, formerly creator and community director at Diva Agency), Robin Mawhinney (production coordinator, previously junior producer at Atelier 11) and Charlotte Pang (publishing coordinator, former producer, animator and artist for Team Gramps and Queensguard, and instructor at Submarine Art School and The Code Zone).
Steffen Holm and Chris Kruger are added to Roblox's Foundation AI team to support the mobile‑first AI creation tool Build in New Zealand. The duo co‑founded Jars AI in 2023 and raised $3.5 million from Google and other investors. Holm commented, "At Jars AI we saw hundreds of thousands of creators use AI to shape weird new worlds and stories, and we're excited to keep pushing the boundaries of AI entertainment in our new roles." Sathvik Sudireddy joins Rockstar Games as marketing manager for live services, after product management on Call of Duty at Activision and a business development internship at Rockstar.
Joe Chard is appointed lead product manager at Netflix Games, having previously served as vice‑president, studio general manager and head of product at Jam City, as well as senior roles at The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Entertainment.