Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures in the video‑game sector can be a real challenge. That’s why we put together periodic round‑ups that capture the most noteworthy personnel moves across studios, publishers, and service providers. If you know of a change that belongs in this list, please forward the name, new title, new company, and previous role to newhires@gamesindustry.biz.
One of the headline announcements this month is the appointment of Ben Board as chief executive officer of The Performance Guys, the optimisation arm of CodeDev Group. Board brings a deep pedigree to the role, having spent the last several years at Epic Games where he served as business development director for both the Epic Game Store and Unreal Engine. He originally joined Epic in 2017 as a developer‑support manager and, prior to that, held senior positions at legendary UK studios such as Bullfrog Productions, Lionhead, and BossAlien.
"Ben is a true industry heavyweight whose reputation and technical authority speak for themselves," said CodeDev Group founder and CEO Myke Parrot. "He understands game development from every angle – from writing engine scripts to managing developer relations for the world’s biggest platforms. 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." In other news, James Turner has re‑joined The Pokémon Company International 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 indie studio released its debut title, The Plucky Squire, in September 2024.
His return to the Pokémon franchise signals a renewed focus on artistic direction and brand consistency across the global franchise. Respawn Entertainment announced that Billy King will take over as lead concept artist. King previously headed concept art at ZeniMax Online Studios and served as senior concept artist for Amazon Games, bringing a wealth of experience in crafting visual identities for large‑scale live‑service and AAA projects. Team17 has hired Sam Duncombe as its new brand‑marketing manager.
Duncombe comes from Warner Bros. Discovery, where he was product manager for games and film, and will now be responsible for shaping Team17’s public image and promotional strategies.
Loom Games welcomed Cansu Karahan Can as its people‑and‑culture manager. Can previously performed the same function at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion), where she helped build inclusive workplace practices and talent development programmes. At Fellow Traveler, Christopher Wulf has been promoted to senior business‑development manager. Wulf joined the company in 2021 after a stint as senior business and event manager at The Triple‑i Initiative, and will now focus on expanding the firm’s partnership portfolio.
Wizards of the Coast added Julie Derhak to its Dungeons & Dragons team as a producer. Derhak spent seven years at Epic Games working on Fortnite Tech Art and the Lego‑Fortnite crossover, giving her a solid background in large‑scale live‑service production pipelines.
Mojang Studios named Alvaro Menéndez its new international social lead. Menéndez previously served as senior marketing manager for Epic Games in Madrid, where he oversaw global community initiatives and influencer programmes. Frontier Developments promoted Linus Johnsson to senior audio designer. Johnsson originally joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has since contributed to the soundscapes of several high‑profile titles.
After a seven‑year tenure at Epic Games, Nate Nanzer is departing to become executive vice‑president and head of commercial & marketing at Paramount Games. Nanzer’s most recent role at Epic was senior vice‑president of partnerships and monetisation.
He said, "The scale of the 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 opportunity to help build what comes next at Paramount was simply too compelling to pass up." Amazon Gaming announced Julia Gutnik as its new head of media.
Gutnik previously led media, social, and analytics for Kia America and spent over six years at Amazon Studios and Prime Video, where she managed digital and ad‑tech media operations. "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," she remarked.
Studio MDHR appointed Lorna Antoniazzi as art producer. Antoniazzi’s prior experience includes a producer role at Roarty Digital, where she worked on Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite.
Grand Games hired Aysu Kutbay as product manager; she moves from a similar role at Rollic, where she oversaw mobile‑game product lifecycles. Games Workshop welcomed back David Bailey as lead commercial manager – licensing. Bailey first joined the company in 2019 as senior licensing manager, left in 2021 for a director role at Sumo Digital, and now returns to help steer the Warhammer licensing strategy.
Second Stage named Liana Murphy its account director for U.S. operations. Murphy previously served as COO and head of public relations at Vicariously and V Publishing. Amazon Luna announced Tim Coombs as head of brand marketing.
Coombs spent the previous six years at Xbox as director of brand management after joining the division in 2020 as senior manager for brand strategy. Earlier in his career he led product marketing for Amazon Lumberyard and Amazon Game Tech. Erik Mogensen left Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast after three years as senior director of business development for digital gaming.
His prior 23‑year career at Games Workshop culminated in a head‑of‑business‑development and consumer‑product‑licensing role. Blizzard Entertainment added Ryan Rubin as senior producer. Rubin previously produced two mobile titles for Netflix—Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset—and spent five years at Riot Games developing creative assets for the League of Legends franchise.
Battlestate Games appointed Andrey Odintsov as head of marketing. Odintsov previously managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and now works as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant. Frontier Developments promoted Dan Lazarides to chief marketing officer.
Lazarides came from Sega Europe, where he was senior vice‑president of marketing, and replaces Jo Cooke, who moved into the CEO role earlier this year. Cooke praised Lazarides, saying his experience with major IPs will reinforce Frontier’s player‑first strategy. Kalypso Media UK hired Karen Ionescu as digital sales manager.
Ionescu’s background includes sales roles at Numskull Games, Nintendo, and Rising Star Games. Swipe Right, an esports and gaming communications agency, promoted Hannah Barrett to senior account executive after she joined as an account executive in December 2025. Supercell named Anni Pyy as contract manager; she previously held the same position at Metacore for four years. Fintech platform ZBD appointed Nathan Solbrandt as senior vice‑president of business development.
Solbrandt’s earlier roles include senior account executive at Motorica and vice‑president of business development for the Americas at Xsolla. Riot Games added Olivia Lee as internal events producer, building on her experience as associate producer for internal programs. Xsolla hired Ciarah Pritchard as account coordinator; she formerly worked as an account performance manager at Playback Rewards. Bethesda welcomed back Tracey Thompson as vice‑president of communications.
Thompson originally joined Bethesda in 2009, left for EA in 2019, and now returns to help shape messaging for some of the industry’s most iconic franchises. Nintendo of America named Maddie Richter as social media marketing manager. Richter previously managed social channels for Alaska Airlines. Yotta Games brought on Dana Duffield as narrative designer after she served as senior narrative designer at Series Entertainment.
The Yogscast Games team 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, with past experience as producer, animator, and educator at Team Gramps, Queensguard, and Submarine Art School). 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.
"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. Rockstar Games hired Sathvik Sudireddy as marketing manager for live services. Sudireddy previously managed product for Call of Duty at Activision after an internship in business development at Rockstar. Finally, Netflix Games appointed Joe Chard as lead product manager.
Chard’s résumé includes a six‑year stint as vice‑president, studio general manager, and head of product at Jam City, as well as senior roles at Disney and Warner Bros.