Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures across 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 studio has news about a new appointment or a transition that belongs in this list, please forward the name, new title, and company, as well as the previous role and employer, 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 heavy‑hitter whose reputation and technical authority speak for themselves," said CodeDev Group founder Myke Parrot. "He understands game development from every angle – from coding 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, this time 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 studio’s debut title, The Plucky Squire, launched in September 2024. Billy King steps into the role of lead concept artist at Respawn Entertainment.
King previously held the same title at ZeniMax Online Studios and was senior concept artist at Amazon Games, bringing a wealth of experience in crafting visual direction for large‑scale projects. Sam Duncombe is now brand marketing manager at Team 17, after serving 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. He first joined the firm in 2021 and before that worked as senior business and event manager for The Triple‑i Initiative. 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 crossover.
Alvaro Menéndez takes the post of international social lead at Mojang Studios. He moves from a senior marketing manager role at Epic Games’ Madrid office. Linus Johnsson is promoted to senior audio designer at Frontier Developments.
He originally 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 tenure to become executive vice‑president, head of commercial & marketing at Paramount Games.
His most recent Epic role 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.
Prior to this, she led media, social, and analytics for Kia America and spent over six years at Prime Video and Amazon Studios, heading digital and ad‑tech media. Lorna Antoniazzi becomes art producer at Studio MDHR, after previously producing at Roarty Digital on projects such as Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Aysu Kutbay takes on the product manager role at Grand Games, moving from a similar position 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 comes back to help steer the Warhammer licensing portfolio. Liana Murphy is named account director, US operations at Second Stage, after serving concurrently 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, having joined Microsoft in 2020 as senior manager for brand strategy, and before that 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. Earlier, he spent 23 years at Games Workshop, most recently as head of business development and consumer product licensing. Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as senior producer. Rubin’s background includes senior producer roles at Netflix (where he helped ship Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset) and five years at Riot Games working on creative development for the League of Legends IP.
Andrey Odintsov is appointed head of marketing at Battlestate Games. He previously managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and now works as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant.
Dan Lazarides becomes chief marketing officer at Frontier Developments, arriving from a senior vice‑president of marketing role at Sega Europe and succeeding Jo Cooke, who moved to Frontier’s CEO post in January. Karen Ionescu is hired as digital sales manager at Kalypso Media UK, after sales manager positions at Numskull Games, Nintendo, and Rising Star Games. Hannah Barrett is promoted to senior account executive at esports and gaming communications agency Swipe Right, having joined the firm 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 executive 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 takes the account coordinator slot at Xsolla, 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 comes back to support the studio’s flagship franchises. Maddie Richter is hired as social media marketing manager at Nintendo of America, after a stint as social media manager at 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 (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, formerly 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 help develop 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 manager 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 roles at Jam City, The Walt Disney Company, and Warner Bros.
Entertainment.