Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures across the games sector can be a daunting task, which is why we publish periodic round‑ups that capture the most noteworthy moves. If your studio has recent staffing changes that you think belong in this list, please forward the name, new title, new employer, and previous role and company 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 before moving on to become the 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, giving him a broad perspective on both classic and modern game development pipelines. "Ben is a true heavyweight in the industry, with a reputation and technical authority that speak for themselves," said Myke Parrot, CEO of CodeDev Group.
"He understands game creation from the low‑level engine code to the high‑level developer‑relations work that powers the world’s biggest platforms. Appointing Ben as CEO of The Performance Guys sends a clear signal: if your title is suffering from performance bottlenecks on any engine, we have the most capable team on the planet to resolve them." In other news, James Turner has rejoined 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 brings a wealth of experience in character design and visual storytelling back to the heart of the Pokémon franchise.
Billy King has been named lead concept artist at Respawn Entertainment. King previously headed concept art at ZeniMax Online Studios and served as a senior concept artist for Amazon Games, where he contributed to several high‑profile projects. Team 17 has added Sam Duncombe as its brand marketing manager.
Duncombe comes from Warner Bros. Discovery, where he was product manager for games and film, and will now oversee Team 17’s brand strategy and community outreach. Loom Games welcomes Cansu Karahan Can as people and culture manager.
Can previously held the same role at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion), where she helped shape the studio’s HR policies and employee experience. At Fellow Traveller, 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 for The Triple‑i Initiative. Wizards of the Coast announced Julie Derhak as a producer for Dungeons & Dragons. Derhak spent seven years at Epic Games, contributing to Fortnite Tech Art and the Lego Fortnite collaboration, before moving to the tabletop giant. Mojang Studios has appointed Alvaro Menéndez as international social lead.
Menéndez previously worked as senior marketing manager for Epic Games in Madrid, bringing a strong background in global community building. Frontier Developments promoted Linus Johnsson to senior audio designer. Johnsson joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has since risen through the ranks, now shaping the soundscapes of the studio’s upcoming titles.
After a seven‑year tenure at Epic Games, Nate Nanzer departs to become executive vice‑president, head of commercial & marketing at Paramount Games. Nanzer most recently served as senior vice‑president of partnerships and monetisation at Epic.
"The scale of ambition and vision for what's next is incredibly exciting," Nanzer said. "I've spent my career at the intersection of games, entertainment, and fandom, and the chance to help build the next chapter at Paramount was simply too compelling to pass up." Julia Gutnik has taken the helm as 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, where she managed digital and ad‑tech media operations. "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 explained.
Studio MDHR announced Lorna Antoniazzi as its new art producer. Antoniazzi formerly produced at Roarty Digital, contributing to Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Grand Games appointed Aysu Kutbay as product manager.
Kutbay previously managed products at Rollic, where she oversaw several successful mobile releases. David Bailey has returned to Games Workshop as lead commercial manager – licensing. Bailey first joined Games Workshop in 2019 as senior licensing manager, left in 2021 for a director role at Sumo Digital, and now returns to help drive new licensing opportunities within the Warhammer universe.
"It’s a privilege to return to the vast and evergreen Warhammer worlds and help spearhead new business for licensing here," he said. Liana Murphy becomes account director for US operations at Second Stage. Murphy most recently held dual roles as COO and head of public relations at Vicariously and V Publishing. Tim Coombs has been named head of brand marketing for Amazon Luna.
Coombs previously directed brand management at Xbox until July 2026, after joining Microsoft in 2020 as senior manager for brand strategy. He also served as product marketing manager for Amazon Lumberyard in 2017 and later as senior product marketing manager and team lead for Amazon Game Tech. Erik Mogensen departs 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.
"It’s not lost on me how special it’s been to have worked on, and for, my favourite brands – first Warhammer, then Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Transformers… the list goes on. I’m very much looking forward to my next chapter, wherever that may be," he reflected. Blizzard Entertainment welcomes Ryan Rubin 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 has been appointed head of marketing at Battlestate Games. Odintsov previously managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and now operates as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for games.
Frontier Developments announced Dan Lazarides as its new chief marketing officer. Lazarides formerly served as senior vice‑president of marketing at Sega Europe and succeeded Jo Cooke after she became Frontier’s CEO in January. "We are delighted to welcome Dan to Frontier, who brings a wealth of experience on some of the industry’s largest IPs," Cooke said.
"His leadership will continue Frontier’s upward momentum and underline our player‑first strategy." Kalypso Media UK named Karen Ionescu digital sales manager. Ionescu previously worked as sales manager at Numskull Games and held roles at Nintendo and Rising Star Games. Managing director Andrew Johnson praised her extensive commercial experience and strong retailer relationships. Hannah Barrett was promoted to senior account executive at esports and gaming communications agency Swipe Right, after joining as an account executive in December 2025.
Supercell added Anni Pyy as contract manager; Pyy previously spent four years in the same role at Metacore. Fintech platform ZBD appointed Nathan Solbrandt as senior vice‑president of business development.
Solbrandt formerly served as senior account executive at Motorica and was vice‑president of business development for the Americas at Xsolla. Riot Games hired Olivia Lee as internal events producer, following her work as associate producer for internal events and programs.
Xsolla brought on Ciarah Pritchard as account coordinator; she previously 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, rose to associate VP of communications, left in 2019 for EA, and now returns to support iconic franchises across Bethesda and Xbox.
Nintendo of America named Maddie Richter social media marketing manager. Richter previously managed social media for Alaska Airlines. Yotta Games added Dana Duffield as narrative designer; Duffield was senior narrative designer at Series Entertainment.
Yogscast Games announced 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 (formerly producer, animator, and artist for Team Gramps and Queensguard, and instructor at Submarine Art School and The Code Zone). Roblox’s Foundation AI team welcomed 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, 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 previously held the positions of vice‑president, studio general manager, and head of product at Jam City, and has senior experience at Disney and Warner Bros.