Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, departures, and promotions in the games sector can be a real challenge, which is why we publish periodic round‑ups that gather all the notable moves in one place. If your organization has staff changes that belong in this list, please forward the name, new title, 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 leadership positions at classic studios such as Bullfrog Productions, Lionhead Studios, and BossAlien. "Ben is a true heavyweight of the industry whose reputation and technical clout speak for themselves," said CodeDev Group founder Myke Parrot.
"He understands game creation from the low‑level engine code to high‑level developer relations on the world’s biggest platforms. Appointing Ben as CEO sends a clear signal: if your title suffers from performance issues on any engine, we have the most capable 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.
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 strong portfolio of sci‑fi and fantasy visuals. Sam Duncombe has taken the position of brand marketing manager at Team17, after a tenure as product manager for games and film at Warner Bros. Discovery.
Cansu Karahan Can joins Loom Games as people and culture manager, having previously performed the same function at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion). Christopher Wulf has been promoted to senior business development manager at Fellow Traveller.
Wulf, who arrived at 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 is now international social lead at Mojang Studios.
Before that he was senior marketing manager for Epic Games in Madrid. Linus Johnsson has been elevated to senior audio designer at Frontier Developments.
He first joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has progressed steadily 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.
Nanzer’s most recent Epic role was senior vice‑president of partnerships and monetisation. "The scale of ambition and vision for what comes next is incredibly exciting," Nanzer explained.
"I’ve spent my career at the crossroads of games, entertainment, and fandom, and the chance to help shape Paramount’s next chapter was simply too compelling to pass up." Julia Gutnik assumes the role of 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 automotive sector, I’m returning to my entertainment roots and to the place that shaped me into a global marketing leader," she said.
Lorna Antoniazzi is appointed art producer at Studio MDHR, after serving as a producer at Roarty Digital where she worked on Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Aysu Kutbay becomes product manager at Grand Games, following a product‑management 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 and help spearhead new licensing business." Liana Murphy takes the post of account director, US operations at Second Stage, after simultaneously serving as COO and head of public relations at Vicariously and V Publishing. Tim Coombs is named head of brand marketing for Amazon Luna.
Coombs previously directed brand management at Xbox until July 2026 and before that held product‑marketing roles for Amazon Lumberyard and Amazon Game Tech. Erik Mogensen leaves 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, most recently as head of business development and consumer‑product licensing. "It’s not lost on me how special it’s been to work on my favourite brands – Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons, Magic, Transformers – and I look forward to the next chapter, wherever it may be," he reflected.
Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as senior producer. Rubin’s previous experience includes senior producer roles at Netflix for mobile titles Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset, as well as five years at Riot Games on creative development for League of Legends.
Andrey Odintsov becomes head of marketing at Battlestate Games, after user‑acquisition work at Multicast Games and independent growth consulting. Dan Lazarides is appointed chief marketing officer at Frontier Developments. Lazarides previously served as senior vice‑president of marketing at Sega Europe and steps in after Jo Cooke moved to the CEO role. "Dan brings a wealth of experience on some of the industry’s largest IPs and will drive our player‑first strategy," Cooke noted.
Karen Ionescu takes the digital sales manager role at Kalypso Media UK, after sales positions at Numskull Games, Nintendo, and Rising Star Games. Managing director Andrew Johnson praised her extensive commercial background. Hannah Barrett is promoted to senior account executive at esports and gaming communications agency Swipe Right, having joined as an account executive in December 2025.
Supercell names 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 VP role at Xsolla for the Americas.
Olivia Lee is appointed internal events producer at Riot Games, following an associate‑producer role for internal 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 for EA in 2019, and now says, "I’m excited to partner with the talented teams across Bethesda and Xbox to support iconic franchises and bring their vision to players worldwide." 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, previously senior narrative designer 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 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‑management work on Call of Duty at Activision and a business‑development internship at the studio. Joe Chard is appointed lead product manager at Netflix Games, following senior leadership positions at Jam City, The Walt Disney Company, and Warner Bros. Entertainment.