Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions and departures across the gaming sector can be a daunting task, which is why we gather the most notable moves in periodic round‑ups. If you know of a change that belongs in this list—whether it’s a new appointment, a transition, or a return—please forward the name, new title, new company, and previous role/company to newhires@gamesindustry.biz.
Former Epic Games executive Ben Board has been named chief executive officer of The Performance Guys, the optimisation arm of CodeDev Group. Board’s résumé includes a stint as business development director for the Epic Game Store and Unreal Engine, a role he assumed after joining Epic in 2017 as a developer support manager. Earlier in his career he held senior positions at Bullfrog Productions, Lionhead Studios and BossAlien, giving him a broad perspective on both classic and contemporary game development.
"Ben is a genuine industry heavyweight whose reputation and technical credibility speak for themselves," said Myke Parrot, CEO of CodeDev Group. "He has seen game creation from every angle—writing engine scripts, nurturing developer relationships on the world’s biggest platforms, and steering large‑scale business initiatives. Bringing Ben on as CEO of The Performance Guys sends a crystal‑clear signal to publishers and studios: if your title is struggling with performance on any engine, you now have the most capable team on the planet to fix it." In other news, James Turner has rejoined The Pokémon Company International as creative director of Pokémon Art and Design.
Turner 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 marks a homecoming to the franchise that helped launch his career. Billy King has been promoted to lead concept artist at Respawn Entertainment. King previously led concept work at ZeniMax Online Studios and served as a senior concept artist for Amazon Games, bringing a wealth of experience in high‑profile IP development.
Sam Duncombe steps into the role of brand marketing manager at Team17, after a tenure as product manager for games and film at Warner Bros. Discovery.
Cansu Karahan Can joins Loom Games as people and culture manager, having previously performed the same function at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion). Christopher Wulf receives a promotion to senior business development manager at Fellow Traveler. Wulf, who joined the firm in 2021, formerly worked for The Triple‑i Initiative as senior business and event manager.
Julie Derhak is now a producer for Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast. She spent seven years at Epic Games, contributing to Fortnite Tech Art and the Lego Fortnite collaboration. Alvaro Menéndez takes on the position of international social lead at Mojang Studios.
Before this, he was senior marketing manager for Epic Games in Madrid. Linus Johnsson advances to senior audio designer at Frontier Developments, after joining the studio in 2022 as a graduate audio designer. After seven years at Epic Games, Nate Nanzer departs 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 commented, "The scale of 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 chance to help shape Paramount's future was simply too compelling to pass up. I'm deeply grateful to everyone at Epic and to all the partners I've worked with; I'll always be proud of what we accomplished together and will be cheering the team on from the sidelines." Julia Gutnik assumes the role of head of media at Amazon Gaming.
Her previous positions include head of media, social & analytics at Kia America, and a six‑year stint at Prime Video and Amazon Studios where she oversaw digital and ad‑tech media. "After two years in the auto sector, I’m returning to my entertainment roots and to the place that shaped me into a global marketing leader," Gutnik said. Lorna Antoniazzi becomes art producer at Studio MDHR, after serving as a producer at Roarty Digital where she contributed to Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Aysu Kutbay is appointed product manager at Grand Games, following a product‑management role 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 licensing business. It’s an incredible opportunity and great to be back working alongside fantastic people." Liana Murphy takes the post of account director, US operations at Second Stage, after simultaneously serving as COO and head of public relations at Vicariously and V Publishing.
Tim Coombs is named head of brand marketing for Amazon Luna. He previously directed brand management at Xbox until July 2026, having joined Xbox in 2020 as senior manager for brand strategy. Earlier, Coombs was product marketing manager for Amazon Lumberyard in 2017 and later senior product marketing manager and team lead for Amazon Game Tech until April 2020. Erik Mogensen exits Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast after three years as senior director of business development for digital gaming.
Prior to that, he spent 23 years at Games Workshop, most recently as head of business development and consumer product licensing. "It’s not lost on me how special it’s been to work on, and for, my favourite brands—Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Transformers… The list goes on.
I’m very much looking forward to my next chapter, wherever that may be," he reflected. Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as a senior producer. Rubin’s background includes senior producer roles at Netflix for mobile titles Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset, as well as five years at Riot Games working on creative development for the League of Legends IP.
Andrey Odintsov becomes head of marketing at Battlestate Games. He previously handled user acquisition at Multicast Games and now works as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for games.
Dan Lazarides is appointed chief marketing officer at Frontier Developments. Lazarides previously served as senior vice‑president of marketing at Sega Europe and succeeded Jo Cooke after her promotion to Frontier CEO in January.
Cooke praised him, stating, "We are delighted to welcome Dan to Frontier, who brings a wealth of experience on some of the industry’s largest IPs. His leadership will continue Frontier’s upward momentum, and his CMO role highlights our focus on communities. Dan will be at the heart of our player‑first strategy, ensuring our publishing team champions player creativity and celebrates how they play our games." Karen Ionescu takes the role of digital sales manager at Kalypso Media UK, after sales positions at Numskull Games, Nintendo and Rising Star Games. Managing director Andrew Johnson commented, "We’re delighted to welcome Karen; she brings extensive commercial experience and long‑standing relationships across retail and digital channels, making her a fantastic addition to the team." Hannah Barrett is promoted to senior account executive at esports and gaming communications agency Swipe Right, having joined as an account executive in December 2025.
Supercell appoints Anni Pyy as contract manager; Pyy previously held the same title at Metacore for four years. Nathan Solbrandt becomes senior vice‑president of business development at fintech platform ZBD. His prior experience includes senior account executive at Motorica and vice‑president of business development for the Americas at Xsolla. Olivia Lee is named internal events producer at Riot Games, after serving as associate producer for internal events and programs.
Ciarah Pritchard joins Xsolla as account coordinator, following a role as account performance manager at Playback Rewards. Tracey Thompson returns to Bethesda as vice‑president of communications. Thompson originally joined Bethesda in 2009 as director of publications, later becoming associate VP of communications, before leaving in 2019 for EA as head of product and studio integrated communications.
She said, "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 a narrative designer, previously senior narrative designer at Series Entertainment.
Yogscast Games announces three new hires: Charlotte Willis as PR and influencer manager (formerly creator and community director at Diva Agency), Robin Mawhinney as production coordinator (previous junior producer at Atelier 11), and Charlotte Pang as publishing coordinator (formerly producer, animator and artist for Team Gramps and Queensguard, and instructor at Submarine Art School and The Code Zone). Steffen Holm and Chris Kruger join 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 remarked, "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 becomes marketing manager, live services at Rockstar Games. He previously was product manager on Call of Duty at Activision after an internship in business development at the developer. Joe Chard is appointed lead product manager at Netflix Games. Chard’s background includes vice‑president, studio general manager and head of product at Jam City for six years, as well as senior roles at The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros.
Entertainment.