Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures in the video‑game sector can be a real challenge, which is why we publish periodic round‑ups that gather the most noteworthy moves in one place. If you know of any recent appointments or role changes that belong in this list, please forward the individual's name, new title, new 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 posts 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 for the world’s biggest platforms and engines. Appointing Ben as CEO sends a clear signal: if your title suffers 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 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 brings a wealth of experience in character design and brand stewardship back to the core Pokémon team. Billy King is now 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, contributing to a range of sci‑fi and fantasy visual projects.
Sam Duncombe has taken the role of brand‑marketing manager at Team17 after a stint as product manager for games and film at Warner Bros. Discovery.
In his new position he will steer the studio’s global brand strategy and oversee cross‑media campaigns for titles such as Worms and the new Little Nightmares sequel. Cansu Karahan Can joins Loom Games as people‑and‑culture manager, having previously performed the same duties at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion). She will be responsible for talent acquisition, employee development, and fostering an inclusive studio environment. Christopher Wulf was promoted to senior business‑development manager at Fellow Traveller.
Wulf, who arrived in 2021, previously worked for The Triple‑i Initiative as senior business and event manager, and will now focus on expanding the company’s partnership network across Europe and North America. 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, giving her a solid background in large‑scale live‑service production.
Alvaro Menéndez takes on the role of international social lead at Mojang Studios. Before this, he served as senior marketing manager for Epic Games in Madrid, where he oversaw community outreach for titles such as Fortnite and Rocket League. Linus Johnsson was promoted to senior audio designer at Frontier Developments. Johnsson originally joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has since contributed to the soundscapes of titles like Planet Coaster and Elite Dangerous.
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. "The scale of ambition and vision 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. 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. "After two years in the auto industry, I am returning to my entertainment roots and to the place that shaped me into a global marketing leader," she explained. Lorna Antoniazzi becomes art producer at Studio MDHR, after producing at Roarty Digital on projects including Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite.
She will oversee art pipelines for upcoming titles such as Death Spank the Monkey. Aysu Kutbay was named product manager at Grand Games, following a product‑management role at Rollic where she helped launch several successful mobile hits.
David Bailey returns to Games Workshop as lead commercial manager – licensing. Bailey originally joined Games Workshop in 2019 as senior licensing manager, left in 2021 for 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 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 until July 2026, having joined Xbox in 2020 as senior manager for brand strategy.
Earlier in his career he led product marketing for Amazon Lumberyard (2017) and Amazon Game Tech (until 2020). Erik Mogensen exits Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast after three years as senior director of business development for digital gaming. Mogensen spent 23 years at Games Workshop, most recently 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 – Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Transformers…" 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 is appointed head of marketing at Battlestate Games. Odintsov formerly managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and currently works as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for game studios.
Dan Lazarides becomes 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 CEO in January.
Cooke praised him, noting his experience with major IPs and his focus on a player‑first strategy. Karen Ionescu was hired as digital sales manager at Kalypso Media UK.
Ionescu brings experience from Numskull Games, Nintendo, and Rising Star Games. Managing director Andrew Johnson said, "She brings a wealth of commercial experience and long‑standing relationships across both retail and digital sales channels." Hannah Barrett was promoted to senior account executive at esports and gaming communications agency Swipe Right, after joining as an account executive in December 2025. Supercell named Anni Pyy as contract manager; Pyy previously held the same role at Metacore for four years.
Nathan Solbrandt was appointed senior vice‑president of business development at fintech platform ZBD. Solbrandt came from Motorica (senior account executive) and Xsolla (vice‑president of business development for the Americas).
Olivia Lee becomes internal events producer at Riot Games, after serving as associate producer for internal events and programs. Ciarah Pritchard was hired as account coordinator at Xsolla, having previously worked as account performance manager at Playback Rewards. Tracey Thompson returns to Bethesda as vice‑president of communications. Thompson originally joined Bethesda in 2009, left for EA 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." Maddie Richter was appointed social media marketing manager at Nintendo of America, after serving as social media manager at Alaska Airlines.
Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as a narrative designer, following a senior narrative designer role at Series Entertainment. Yogscast Games announced 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 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 said, "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, after product‑management work on Call of Duty at Activision and an internship in business development at Rockstar. Joe Chard was named lead product manager at Netflix Games. Chard previously spent six years at Jam City as vice‑president, studio general manager, and head of product, and also held senior games roles at The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros.
Entertainment.