Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, departures, and promotions in the video‑game sector can be a real challenge, which is why we put together periodic round‑ups that capture the most noteworthy movements. If your organisation has recent appointments or role changes that belong in this list, please forward the name, new title, company, and previous position 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 taking on the role of business‑development director for the Epic Game Store and Unreal Engine.
His résumé also includes senior leadership posts at Bullfrog Productions, Lionhead Studios, and BossAlien. "Ben is a genuine heavyweight in the industry, with a reputation and technical clout that speak for themselves," said CodeDev Group founder Myke Parrot. "He knows game creation from every angle – from writing engine scripts to handling developer relations for the world’s largest platforms.
Appointing Ben as CEO sends a clear signal: if your title is suffering performance issues on any engine, we have the best team on the planet to fix it." James Turner has rejoined The Pokémon Company International, this time as creative director of Pokémon Art and Design. Turner left Game Freak in 2022 to co‑found All Possible Futures with Jonathan Biddle, a studio that launched its debut title, The Plucky Squire, in September 2024. Billy King steps into the role of lead concept artist at Respawn Entertainment. King previously headed concept work at ZeniMax Online Studios and served as senior concept artist for Amazon Games.
Sam Duncombe is now brand marketing manager at Team17, after a stint as product manager for games and film at Warner Bros. Discovery.
Cansu Karahan Can joins Loom Games as people‑and‑culture manager, having previously held the same title at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion). Christopher Wulf has been promoted to senior business‑development manager at Fellow Traveller. He entered the firm in 2021 after serving 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, contributing to Fortnite Tech Art and the Lego‑Fortnite collaboration. Alvaro Menéndez takes the post of international social lead at Mojang Studios. Before that he was senior marketing manager for Epic Games in Madrid.
Linus Johnsson advances to senior audio designer at Frontier Developments. He originally joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has risen through the ranks. Nate Nanzer departs Epic Games after a seven‑year tenure to become executive vice‑president, head of commercial and marketing at Paramount Games.
At Epic his most recent title was senior vice‑president of partnerships and monetisation. "The scale of ambition and vision for what’s next is incredibly exciting," Nanzer said. "I’ve spent my career at the crossroads of games, entertainment, and fandom, and the chance to help shape Paramount’s future was simply too compelling to pass up." Julia Gutnik is appointed head of media at Amazon Gaming. She previously led media, social, and analytics for Kia America and spent over six years at Prime Video and Amazon Studios, where she oversaw digital and ad‑tech media functions.
"After two years in the auto sector, I’m returning to my entertainment roots and to the place that shaped me into a global marketing leader," Gutnik noted. Lorna Antoniazzi becomes art producer at Studio MDHR, after working as a producer at Roarty Digital on Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Aysu Kutbay is named product manager at Grand Games, following a product‑management role at Rollic. David Bailey returns to Games Workshop as lead commercial manager – licensing.
Bailey first joined the company in 2019 as senior licensing manager, left in 2021 for a director role at Sumo Digital, and now comes back to help steer licensing across the Warhammer portfolio. "It’s a privilege to return to the vast and evergreen Warhammer universes and help spearhead new business for licensing here," he said.
Liana Murphy is appointed account director for US operations at Second Stage, after serving simultaneously 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 the console maker in 2020 as senior manager for brand strategy. Earlier, he was product marketing manager for Amazon Lumberyard in 2017 and later senior product marketing manager and team lead for Amazon Game Tech until April 2020. Erik Mogensen exits 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, and for, my favourite brands – Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Transformers – the list goes on. I’m looking forward to my next chapter, wherever that may be," he reflected. Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as senior producer.
Rubin previously held senior producer roles at Netflix, overseeing mobile titles such as 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.
He formerly managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and currently works as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for game studios. Dan Lazarides takes the chief marketing officer position at Frontier Developments.
He previously served as senior vice‑president of marketing at Sega Europe and succeeded Jo Cooke after her promotion to Frontier’s CEO in January. Cooke praised his appointment, noting that his experience with major IPs will bolster Frontier’s player‑first strategy.
Karen Ionescu becomes digital sales manager at Kalypso Media UK. Her background includes sales‑manager roles at Numskull Games, Nintendo, and Rising Star Games.
Managing director Andrew Johnson said her extensive commercial experience and strong retail and digital relationships make her a valuable addition. 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 appoints Anni Pyy as contract manager; she previously held the same role at Metacore for four years.
Nathan Solbrandt becomes senior vice‑president of business development at fintech platform ZBD. He earlier worked as senior account executive at Motorica and was vice‑president of business development for the Americas at Xsolla. Olivia Lee is hired as internal events producer at Riot Games, having previously served as associate producer for internal events and programs.
Ciarah Pritchard takes on the role of account coordinator at Xsolla, after working as account performance manager at Playback Rewards. Tracey Thompson returns to Bethesda as vice‑president of communications. Thompson originally joined Bethesda in 2009 as director of publications, later becoming associate VP of communications, before leaving in 2019 for Electronic Arts.
She said she looks forward to partnering with Bethesda and Xbox teams to support iconic franchises worldwide. Maddie Richter is appointed social media marketing manager at Nintendo of America, after a stint as social media manager for Alaska Airlines. Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as a narrative designer, having previously served as 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 (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 support the mobile‑first AI creation tool Build in New Zealand. The duo co‑founded the interactive AI platform Jars AI in 2023, raising $3.5 million from Google and other investors.
Holm said, "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." Sathvik Sudireddy becomes marketing manager for live services at Rockstar Games. He previously worked as product manager on Call of Duty at Activision after an internship in business development at Rockstar. Joe Chard is appointed lead product manager at Netflix Games. Chard’s background includes a six‑year tenure as vice‑president, studio general manager, and head of product at Jam City, as well as senior roles at The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros.
Entertainment. These movements illustrate the dynamic nature of the gaming ecosystem, where talent continuously shifts between development, publishing, and ancillary services, driving innovation and shaping the experiences that players enjoy worldwide.