Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, departures, and promotions across the games sector can be a real challenge. That’s why we publish periodic round‑ups that capture the most noteworthy moves. If you know of a change that belongs in this list—new appointments, internal shifts, or notable exits—please forward the name, new title, company, and previous role to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. Former Epic Games executive Ben Board has been tapped to lead The Performance Guys, the optimisation arm of CodeDev Group, as its chief executive officer.
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 modern development pipelines.
"Ben is a true industry heavy‑hitter whose reputation and technical authority speak for themselves," remarked CodeDev Group founder Myke Parrot. "He understands game development from every angle – from coding 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 re‑joined 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 steps into the role of lead concept artist at Respawn Entertainment. King previously led concept teams at ZeniMax Online Studios and served as senior concept artist for Amazon Games, bringing a wealth of experience in high‑profile, large‑scale production pipelines.
Sam Duncombe has been named brand marketing manager at Team17, after a tenure as product manager for games and film at Warner Bros. Discovery. His background in both entertainment and interactive media is expected to strengthen Team17’s brand outreach. Cansu Karahan Can joins Loom Games as people and culture manager, having previously filled the same role at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion).
She will oversee talent development and organisational culture for the indie studio. Christopher Wulf earned a promotion 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.
Julie Derhak is now a producer for Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast. Derhak spent seven years at Epic Games, contributing to Fortnite Tech Art and the Lego‑Fortnite collaboration, before moving into tabletop RPG production. Alvaro Menéndez takes on the role of international social lead at Mojang Studios.
He arrives from Epic Games Madrid, where he was senior marketing manager, and will oversee global community initiatives for Minecraft. Linus Johnsson has been promoted to senior audio designer at Frontier Developments. Johnsson began his career at Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has progressed to a senior position within the sound team. Nate Nanzer departs Epic Games after a seven‑year stint to become EVP, head of commercial & marketing at Paramount Games.
Nanzer’s most recent Epic role was SVP of partnerships and monetisation. "The scale of the ambition and vision here for what's next is incredibly exciting," Nanzer said. "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 appointed head of media at Amazon Gaming.
Previously she led media, social, and analytics at Kia America and spent over six years at Prime Video and Amazon Studios, where she managed digital and ad‑tech media. "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," Gutnik explained.
Lorna Antoniazzi becomes art producer at Studio MDHR, after serving as a producer at Roarty Digital on projects such as Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Aysu Kutbay is named product manager at Grand Games, moving from a similar 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 business for licensing here." Liana Murphy takes the position of account director, US operations, at Second Stage, after concurrently serving as COO and head of PR at Vicariously and V Publishing. Tim Coombs becomes head of brand marketing for Amazon Luna. He 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. 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 have worked on, and for, my favourite brands," he reflected. Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as senior producer, after senior producer roles at Netflix (Squid Game: Unleashed, Selling Sunset) and five years at Riot Games on League of Legends creative development.
Andrey Odintsov is appointed head of marketing at Battlestate Games, following user‑acquisition work at Multicast Games and independent consultancy. Dan Lazarides steps in as chief marketing officer at Frontier Developments, after serving as senior vice president of marketing at Sega Europe. He replaces Jo Cooke, who moved to Frontier’s CEO role. "His leadership in this genre will continue Frontier's upward momentum," said CEO Jo Cooke.
Karen Ionescu becomes digital sales manager at Kalypso Media UK, bringing experience from Numskull Games, Nintendo, and Rising Star Games. Managing director Andrew Johnson praised her commercial expertise.
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 appoints Anni Pyy as contract manager; she previously held the same title at Metacore for four years.
Nathan Solbrandt becomes SVP of business development at fintech platform ZBD, after senior account work at Motorica and a VP role at Xsolla for the Americas. Olivia Lee takes on internal events producer at Riot Games, building on prior experience as associate producer for internal events and programs. Ciarah Pritchard is named account coordinator at Xsolla, after serving as account performance manager at Playback Rewards.
Tracey Thompson returns to Bethesda as VP of communications. Thompson originally joined Bethesda in 2009, left in 2019 for EA, and now looks forward to supporting iconic franchises across Bethesda and Xbox. 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 educator 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. "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," Holm said. Sathvik Sudireddy becomes marketing manager, live services at Rockstar Games, 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, following senior leadership positions at Jam City, The Walt Disney Company, and Warner Bros.
Entertainment.