Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions and departures across the games sector can be a real challenge. That’s why we put together periodic round‑ups that capture the most noteworthy moves.
If you know of any changes that belong in this list—new appointments, internal transitions, or departures—please forward the name, new title, company, and previous role to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. Former Epic Games executive Ben Board has been tapped to lead the CodeDev Group’s performance‑optimization arm, The Performance Guys, as its chief executive officer. Board’s résumé includes a stint as business‑development director for the Epic Game Store and Unreal Engine, a role he stepped into after joining Epic in 2017 as a developer‑support manager.
Earlier in his career he held senior positions at Bullfrog Productions, Lionhead Studios and BossAlien, giving him a broad perspective on both classic and modern game development pipelines. "Ben is a genuine heavyweight in the industry, with a reputation and technical credibility that speak for themselves," said Myke Parrot, CEO of CodeDev Group.
"He has seen game creation from every angle—from writing engine scripts to shepherding developer relations for the world’s biggest platforms. Bringing Ben on as CEO of The Performance Guys sends a clear signal: if your title suffers from performance bottlenecks on any engine, you’re working with the best team on the planet to fix it." In other news, 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 and earned praise for its quirky storytelling and inventive mechanics. Billy King has been appointed 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, contributing to a range of sci‑fi and fantasy visual designs. Sam Duncombe moves to Team17 as Brand Marketing Manager 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, bringing experience from a similar role at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion). Christopher Wulf has been promoted to Senior Business Development Manager at Fellow Traveler, a company he joined in 2021 after serving as Senior Business and Event Manager for The Triple‑i Initiative. Julie Derhak steps into the role of Producer for Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast.
Derhak spent seven years at Epic Games, where she worked on Fortnite Tech Art and the Lego‑Fortnite collaboration, honing her production and art‑direction skills. Alvaro Menéndez takes on the position of International Social Lead at Mojang Studios, after a period as Senior Marketing Manager for Epic Games in Madrid. Linus Johnsson is promoted to Senior Audio Designer at Frontier Developments. He originally joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has since contributed to the soundscapes of several high‑profile titles.
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 SVP of Partnerships and Monetisation. He praised the upcoming vision at Paramount, noting, "I've spent my career at the crossroads of games, entertainment and fandom, and the chance to help shape what comes next at Paramount was simply too compelling to pass up." Julia Gutnik is named Head of Media at Amazon Gaming. Previously she led media, social and analytics for Kia America, and before that she spent over six years at Prime Video and Amazon Studios, overseeing digital and ad‑tech media operations.
Lorna Antoniazzi joins Studio MDHR as Art Producer after a producer role at Roarty Digital, where she contributed to Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Aysu Kutbay becomes Product Manager at Grand Games, moving from a similar position at Rollic.
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 a director role at Sumo Digital, and now comes back to help steer licensing for the expansive Warhammer universe. Liana Murphy is appointed Account Director for US Operations at Second Stage, after serving concurrently as COO and Head of PR at Vicariously and V Publishing. Tim Coombs takes the helm as 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. His prior 23‑year career at Games Workshop culminated in heading business development and consumer‑product licensing.
Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as Senior Producer. His background includes senior producer work on Netflix mobile titles Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset, plus five years at Riot Games focusing 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 for independent game growth projects. Dan Lazarides is appointed Chief Marketing Officer at Frontier Developments, following a senior vice‑president role at Sega Europe.
He replaces Jo Cooke, who moved to Frontier’s CEO seat in January. Cooke highlighted Lazarides’ experience with major IPs and his player‑first mindset. Karen Ionescu steps in as Digital Sales Manager for Kalypso Media UK, bringing prior sales leadership from Numskull Games, Nintendo and Rising Star Games.
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 names Anni Pyy as Contract Manager; Pyy previously held the same title at Metacore for four years. Nathan Solbrandt becomes SVP of Business Development at fintech platform ZBD, after senior account work at Motorica and a VP role at Xsolla for the Americas.
Olivia Lee takes the role of Internal Events Producer at Riot Games, building on her experience as associate producer for internal events and programs. Ciarah Pritchard is hired as Account Coordinator at Xsolla, after serving as Account Performance Manager at Playback Rewards.
Tracey Thompson returns to Bethesda as VP of Communications. Thompson originally joined Bethesda in 2009, later moved to EA as head of product and studio integrated communications, and now looks forward to supporting iconic franchises across Bethesda and Xbox.
Maddie Richter becomes Social Media Marketing Manager for Nintendo of America, after a stint as Social Media Manager at Alaska Airlines. Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as Narrative Designer, following senior narrative design 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, with past roles as producer, animator and artist for Team Gramps and Queensguard, plus teaching experience at Submarine Art School and The Code Zone). Steffen Holm and Chris Kruger join Roblox’s Foundation AI team to bolster the mobile‑first AI creation tool Build in New Zealand.
The duo co‑founded Jars AI in 2023, raising $3.5 million from Google and other investors, and aim to push the boundaries of AI‑driven entertainment. 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, bringing prior experience as VP, Studio General Manager and Head of Product at Jam City, as well as senior roles at Disney and Warner Bros.