Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions and departures in the games sector can be a real challenge, which is why we publish periodic round‑ups that capture the most noteworthy moves. If you know of any new appointments or role changes that belong in this list, please forward the name, new title, 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 stints at Bullfrog Productions, Lionhead Studios and BossAlien.
"Ben is a true industry heavyweight whose reputation and technical authority speak for themselves," said CodeDev Group CEO 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 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 as creative director of Pokémon Art and Design.
Turner left Game Freak in 2022 to co‑found All Possible Futures with Jonathan Biddle, a studio that launched its debut title, The Plucky Squire, in September 2024. His return marks a homecoming to the brand he helped shape for years.
Billy King steps into the role of lead concept artist at Respawn Entertainment. King previously led concept work 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 projects. Sam Duncombe moves to Team17 as brand marketing manager after a tenure as product manager for games and film at Warner Bros.
Discovery. His background in both interactive and cinematic media positions him well to elevate Team17’s brand presence.
Cansu Karahan Can joins Loom Games as people and culture manager, having previously held the same title at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion). Her expertise in talent development and workplace culture will support Loom’s growing team. Christopher Wulf is promoted 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 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.
Alvaro Menéndez takes on the role of international social lead at Mojang Studios. Before this, he was senior marketing manager for Epic Games in Madrid, overseeing global community initiatives.
Linus Johnsson advances to senior audio designer at Frontier Developments. Johnsson joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has since progressed through the sound team. Nate Nanzer departs Epic Games after a seven‑year stint to become executive vice‑president, head of commercial & marketing at Paramount Games. At Epic his most recent position was senior vice‑president 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. 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 navigating 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 serving as a producer at Roarty Digital where she contributed to Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Aysu Kutbay is named product manager at Grand Games, following a product‑manager role at Rollic. 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 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 serving concurrently as COO and head of public relations at Vicariously and V Publishing.
Tim Coombs is appointed head of brand marketing for Amazon Luna. Coombs previously directed brand management at Xbox until July 2026 and earlier led product marketing 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. 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 independently on growth and go‑to‑market strategies. Dan Lazarides is named chief marketing officer of Frontier Developments.
Lazarides previously served as senior vice‑president of marketing at Sega Europe and replaces Jo Cooke, who moved to Frontier’s CEO role in January. Cooke praised his appointment, noting his experience with major IPs and his player‑first focus. 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 retail and digital sales 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 appoints Anni Pyy as contract manager; Pyy previously held the same title at Metacore for four years. Nathan Solbrandt becomes senior vice‑president of business development at fintech platform ZBD, after senior account work at Motorica and a vice‑president role at Xsolla for the Americas. Olivia Lee is hired as internal events producer at Riot Games, having earlier served as associate producer for internal events and programs. Ciarah Pritchard joins Xsolla as account coordinator, after working 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 she 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 for Alaska Airlines. Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as narrative designer, following senior narrative designer work at Series Entertainment. Yogscast Games announces three new hires: Charlotte Willis as PR and influencer manager (formerly creator and community director at Diva Agency), Robin Mawhinney as production coordinator (previous junior producer at Atelier 11) and Charlotte Pang as 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. "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‑manager experience on Call of Duty at Activision and a business‑development internship at Rockstar.
Joe Chard is appointed lead product manager at Netflix Games, having previously been vice‑president, studio general manager and head of product at Jam City, with senior roles at Disney and Warner Bros.