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 gather all the notable moves in one place. If your studio has recent staffing changes that belong in this list, please forward the employee name, new title, new company, and previous role 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’s résumé includes a stint as business development director for the Epic Game Store and Unreal Engine, a role he took on 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 deep‑rooted understanding of both classic and contemporary game development pipelines. "Ben is a genuine heavyweight in the industry, with a reputation and technical credibility that speak for themselves," said Myke Parrot, CEO of CodeDev Group.
"He knows game creation from every angle – whether you’re writing engine scripts or managing developer relations for the world’s biggest platforms. Bringing Ben on board as CEO of The Performance Guys sends a clear signal to the market: if your title suffers from performance bottlenecks on any engine, we have the world’s best team to solve it." In other news, James Turner has re‑joined The Pokémon Company International, this time 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 named 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 crafting visual identities for live‑service and AAA projects. Team17 announced Sam Duncombe as its new Brand Marketing Manager.
Duncombe comes from Warner Bros. Discovery, where he oversaw product management for both games and film, adding a cross‑media perspective to Team17’s marketing strategy.
Loom Games welcomed Cansu Karahan Can as People and Culture Manager. Can previously performed the same function at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion), where she helped shape employee experience and organisational culture.
At Fellow Traveler, Christopher Wulf earned a promotion to Senior Business Development Manager. Wulf joined the company in 2021 after serving as senior business and event manager for The Triple‑i Initiative. Wizards of the Coast appointed Julie Derhak as a producer for Dungeons & Dragons. Derhak spent seven years at Epic Games, contributing to Fortnite Tech Art and the Lego‑Fortnite crossover, before moving to the tabletop giant.
Mojang Studios named Alvaro Menéndez its International Social Lead. Menéndez previously worked as senior marketing manager for Epic Games in Madrid, giving him a strong background in community engagement for large‑scale titles. Frontier Developments promoted Linus Johnsson to Senior Audio Designer.
Johnsson, who joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer, has now moved up to a senior role, continuing to shape the studio’s soundscapes. After seven years at Epic Games, Nate Nanzer departed to become EVP, Head of Commercial & Marketing at Paramount Games. Nanzer’s last Epic role was SVP of Partnerships and Monetisation. He said, "The scale of ambition and vision 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 build the future at Paramount was simply too compelling to pass up." Amazon Gaming hired Julia Gutnik as Head of Media. Gutnik previously led media, social, and analytics for Kia America and spent over six years at Prime Video and Amazon Studios, where she headed digital and ad‑tech media.
Studio MDHR added Lorna Antoniazzi as Art Producer. Antoniazzi’s prior experience includes a producer role at Roarty Digital, where she contributed to Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Grand Games appointed Aysu Kutbay as Product Manager. Kutbay moved from a similar position at Rollic, bringing indie‑mobile expertise to the new role.
Games Workshop welcomed back David Bailey as Lead Commercial Manager – Licensing. Bailey originally joined Games Workshop in 2019, left in 2021 for a director role at Sumo Digital, and now returns to help drive licensing opportunities across the Warhammer universe. Second Stage announced Liana Murphy as Account Director for US Operations.
Murphy most recently held dual responsibilities as COO and Head of PR at Vicariously and V Publishing. Amazon Luna named Tim Coombs Head of Brand Marketing. Coombs previously directed brand management at Xbox until July 2026 and held product marketing leadership positions for Amazon Lumberyard and Amazon Game Tech.
Erik Mogensen exited 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, culminating as Head of Business Development and Consumer Product Licensing. Blizzard Entertainment added Ryan Rubin as Senior Producer.
Rubin’s background includes senior production roles at Netflix (where he helped ship Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset) and five years at Riot Games working on League of Legends creative development. Battlestate Games appointed Andrey Odintsov as Head of Marketing. Odintsov previously managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and now operates as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant.
Frontier Developments hired Dan Lazarides as Chief Marketing Officer. Lazarides comes from Sega Europe, where he was Senior Vice President of Marketing, and succeeds Jo Cooke, who moved to Frontier’s CEO role in January. Kalypso Media UK named Karen Ionescu Digital Sales Manager.
Ionescu brings experience from Numskull Games, Nintendo, and Rising Star Games, offering a blend of retail and digital expertise. Swipe Right promoted Hannah Barrett to Senior Account Executive. Barrett joined the esports and gaming communications agency in December 2025 as an Account Executive.
Supercell appointed Anni Pyy as Contract Manager, after four years in the same capacity at Metacore. Fintech platform ZBD announced Nathan Solbrandt as SVP of Business Development.
Solbrandt previously worked at Motorica and served as VP of Business Development for the Americas at Xsolla. Riot Games added Olivia Lee as Internal Events Producer, building on her prior role as associate producer for internal programs. Xsolla hired Ciarah Pritchard as Account Coordinator; she previously worked as an account performance manager at Playback Rewards. Bethesda welcomed back Tracey Thompson as VP of Communications.
Thompson originally joined Bethesda in 2009, left for EA in 2019, and now returns to oversee communications for some of the industry’s most iconic franchises. Nintendo of America named Maddie Richter Social Media Marketing Manager.
Richter transitions from a social media role at Alaska Airlines. Yotta Games brought on Dana Duffield as Narrative Designer; Duffield previously served as senior narrative designer at Series Entertainment. Yogscast Games announced three new hires: Charlotte Willis (PR & 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). Roblox’s Foundation AI team added Steffen Holm and Chris Kruger 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. Rockstar Games hired Sathvik Sudireddy as Marketing Manager, Live Services.
Sudireddy previously managed product for Call of Duty at Activision after an internship in business development at Rockstar. Netflix Games appointed Joe Chard as Lead Product Manager. Chard’s background includes a VP role, studio general manager, and head of product at Jam City, as well as senior positions at Disney and Warner Bros.