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 publish periodic round‑ups that gather all the noteworthy moves in one place.
If you know of a staffing change that belongs in this list, please forward the 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 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 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 for the world’s biggest platforms and engines. 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." 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 places him back at the heart of the Pokémon brand, overseeing visual direction for future games, merchandise and media. Billy King is now the 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 high‑profile projects. His experience in large‑scale world‑building and character design is expected to strengthen Respawn’s visual pipeline. Sam Duncombe has taken the role of brand‑marketing manager at Team 17. Before joining, he was product manager for games and film at Warner Bros.
Discovery, where he oversaw cross‑platform marketing initiatives and brand partnerships. Cansu Karahan Can joins Loom Games as people‑and‑culture manager after serving in the same capacity at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion).
Her focus will be on talent acquisition, employee development and fostering an inclusive studio environment. Christopher Wulf has been 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, bringing a strong network of indie partners to the role. Julie Derhak becomes a producer for the Dungeons & Dragons line at Wizards of the Coast.
Derhak spent seven years at Epic Games, where she contributed to Fortnite Tech Art and the Lego Fortnite collaboration, gaining deep experience in live‑service pipelines. Alvaro Menéndez is appointed international social lead at Mojang Studios.
He moves from Epic Games in Madrid, where he was senior marketing manager, to oversee global community strategy for Minecraft and related titles. Linus Johnsson has been elevated to senior audio designer at Frontier Developments. Johnsson joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has since contributed to the soundscapes of several of the studio’s flagship projects.
Nate Nanzer departs Epic Games after seven years to become executive vice‑president, head of commercial & marketing at Paramount Games. At Epic his most recent post 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, adding that his career has always sat at the intersection of games, entertainment and fandom. Julia Gutnik takes over as head of media at Amazon Gaming. Previously she led media, social and analytics for Kia America and spent 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 a stint at Roarty Digital where she worked on Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Her role will involve coordinating art pipelines and supporting the studio’s distinctive visual style.
Aysu Kutbay is appointed product manager at Grand Games, moving from a similar position at Rollic where she helped launch several mobile hits. David Bailey returns to Games Workshop as lead commercial manager – licensing. Bailey first 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 post of account director, US operations, at Second Stage after serving as COO and head of public relations at Vicariously and V Publishing. Tim Coombs becomes head of brand marketing for Amazon Luna.
He previously directed brand management at Xbox until July 2026 and held product‑marketing 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. 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 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 named head of marketing at Battlestate Games, after experience as user‑acquisition manager at Multicast Games and independent growth consulting. Dan Lazarides becomes chief marketing officer at Frontier Developments, coming from a senior vice‑president of marketing role at Sega Europe.
Frontier CEO Jo Cooke praised his experience with large IPs and his player‑first mindset. Karen Ionescu is appointed 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 channel relationships. 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 adds Anni Pyy as contract manager; Pyy previously spent four years in the same capacity at Metacore. 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 appointed internal events producer at Riot Games, moving up from 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 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 tenure as social media manager at Alaska Airlines. Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as a narrative designer, following senior narrative design 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. 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 is appointed lead product manager at Netflix Games, after serving as vice‑president, studio general manager and head of product at Jam City, plus senior roles at Disney and Warner Bros.