Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures across the games sector can be a real challenge. That’s why we publish periodic round‑ups that capture the most noteworthy movements. If you know of any recent appointments or role changes that belong in this list, please forward the individual's name, new position, new company, as well as their previous role and employer 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 new chief executive officer.
Board joined Epic in 2017 as a developer support manager and later took on the role of business development director for both the Epic Game Store and Unreal Engine. His résumé also includes senior leadership positions at Bullfrog Productions, Lionhead Studios, and BossAlien.
"Ben is a true industry heavyweight 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 on the world’s biggest platforms.
Bringing Ben in as CEO of The Performance Guys sends an unmistakable message to the market: if your title suffers from performance issues 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’s debut title, The Plucky Squire, launched in September 2024.
Billy King steps into the role of Lead Concept Artist at Respawn Entertainment. King previously held the same title at ZeniMax Online Studios and served as Senior Concept Artist for Amazon Games, bringing a wealth of experience in crafting visual direction for large‑scale projects.
Sam Duncombe has been appointed Brand Marketing Manager at Team17 after a stint as Product Manager – Games and Film at Warner Bros. Discovery. In his new capacity, Duncombe will oversee brand strategy and cross‑media initiatives 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). Her focus will be on nurturing talent and shaping organisational culture within 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 to the tabletop giant.
Alvaro Menéndez has taken the post of International Social Lead at Mojang Studios. Prior to this, he was Senior Marketing Manager for Epic Games in Madrid, where he oversaw global community initiatives. Linus Johnsson has been promoted to Senior Audio Designer at Frontier Developments.
Johnsson joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has progressed to a senior role overseeing sound design across the studio’s portfolio. Nate Nanzer departs Epic Games after a seven‑year tenure to become Executive Vice President, Head of Commercial & Marketing at Paramount Games. At Epic, Nanzer most recently served as 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. Before this, she led media, social, and analytics for Kia America and spent over six years at Prime Video and Amazon Studios, where she managed digital and ad‑tech media functions.
"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, having previously produced at Roarty Digital on projects such as Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Aysu Kutbay joins Grand Games as Product Manager after 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 comes back to help steer licensing for the Warhammer universe. "It's a privilege to return to the vast and evergreen Warhammer universes to help spearhead new business for licensing here," he remarked. Liana Murphy is named Account Director, US Operations at Second Stage, after serving simultaneously as COO and Head of PR at Vicariously and V Publishing.
Tim Coombs takes over as Head of Brand Marketing for Amazon Luna. Coombs previously directed brand management at Xbox until July 2026 and held product marketing leadership 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. 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 have worked on, and for, my favourite brands," Mogensen said. Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as Senior Producer.
Rubin previously produced two shipped mobile titles at 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 becomes Head of Marketing at Battlestate Games after user‑acquisition work at Multicast Games and consulting for independent game launches. Dan Lazarides is appointed Chief Marketing Officer at Frontier Developments, succeeding Jo Cooke who moved to the CEO role. Lazarides previously served as Senior Vice President of Marketing at Sega Europe.
Cooke praised his arrival, noting that his experience with large IPs will reinforce Frontier’s player‑first strategy. Karen Ionescu takes the role of Digital Sales Manager at Kalypso Media UK, bringing prior experience from Numskull Games, Nintendo, and Rising Star Games. Managing Director Andrew Johnson highlighted her extensive commercial background.
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 names Anni Pyy as Contract Manager; Pyy 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 is hired as Internal Events Producer at Riot Games, building on her prior experience as 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, 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, having previously been Senior Narrative Designer at Series Entertainment. Yogscast Games announces three new hires: Charlotte Willis (PR and Influencer Manager, formerly at Diva Agency), Robin Mawhinney (Production Coordinator, previously junior producer at Atelier 11) and Charlotte Pang (Publishing Coordinator, with past roles as producer, animator, and educator at Team Gramps, Queensguard, and Submarine Art School).
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. Sathvik Sudireddy becomes Marketing Manager, Live Services at Rockstar Games, after product‑management work on Call of Duty at Activision.
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.