Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, departures, and promotions in the video‑game sector can be a real challenge. To make it easier for industry professionals and enthusiasts alike, we publish periodic round‑ups that capture the most noteworthy personnel moves. If you know of a change that belongs in this list—whether it’s a new appointment, a transition, or a return—please forward the name, new title, new company, and previous role to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. One of the headline announcements this month is the appointment of Ben Board as chief executive officer of The Performance Guys, the optimisation arm of CodeDev Group.
Board brings a wealth of experience from his previous tenure at Epic Games, where he served as business development director for the Epic Game Store and Unreal Engine after joining the firm in 2017 as a developer support manager. Earlier in his career he held senior positions at iconic studios such as Bullfrog Productions, Lionhead, and BossAlien, giving him a deep understanding of both the technical and commercial sides of game creation.
"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." In other news, James Turner has rejoined The Pokémon Company International 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 received praise for its inventive gameplay and distinctive visual style.
His return to the Pokémon franchise signals a renewed focus on artistic direction and brand consistency across the company's global product lines. Respawn Entertainment announced that Billy King will serve as its new lead concept artist. King previously headed concept teams at ZeniMax Online Studios and worked as a senior concept artist for Amazon Games, contributing to a range of high‑profile projects. His portfolio showcases a strong command of sci‑fi and fantasy aesthetics, which should complement Respawn’s upcoming titles.
Team17 welcomed Sam Duncombe as brand marketing manager. Duncombe comes from Warner Bros. Discovery, where he managed product strategy for both games and film, and will now oversee Team17’s brand initiatives, community outreach, and cross‑media collaborations.
Loom Games added Cansu Karahan Can as its people and culture manager. Can’s prior role at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion) involved shaping HR policies and fostering inclusive workplace environments, experience that will help Loom scale its growing development team. At Fellow Traveler, Christopher Wulf earned a promotion to senior business development manager.
Since joining the company in 2021, Wulf has driven partnership growth and event coordination, building on earlier experience with The Triple‑i Initiative. Wizards of the Coast named Julie Derhak a producer for the Dungeons & Dragons line.
Derhak spent seven years at Epic Games, where she contributed to Fortnite Tech Art and the Lego Fortnite collaboration, giving her a solid background in large‑scale production pipelines. Mojang Studios appointed Alvaro Menéndez as international social lead. Menéndez previously served as senior marketing manager for Epic Games in Madrid, where he oversaw global community campaigns for titles such as Fortnite and Rocket League. Frontier Developments promoted Linus Johnsson to senior audio designer.
Johnsson began his Frontier career in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has since worked on soundscapes for several of the studio’s flagship projects. After a seven‑year stint at Epic Games, Nate Nanzer left to become executive vice president and head of commercial & marketing at Paramount Games. Nanzer’s 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." Amazon Gaming announced Julia Gutnik as head of media. Gutnik previously directed media, social, and analytics for Kia America and spent over six years within Amazon’s broader media ecosystem, including roles at Prime Video and Amazon Studios. Studio MDHR added Lorna Antoniazzi as art producer.
Antoniazzi’s background includes a producer role at Roarty Digital, where she contributed to Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite assets. Grand Games named Aysu Kutbay product manager; Kutbay joins from Rollic, where she oversaw product lifecycle and monetisation strategies.
Games Workshop welcomed back David Bailey as lead commercial manager – licensing. Bailey first joined the company in 2019, left in 2021 for a director role at Sumo Digital, and now returns to steer licensing for the expansive Warhammer universe. Second Stage hired Liana Murphy as account director for U.S. operations.
Murphy previously held simultaneous COO and PR head positions at Vicariously and V Publishing. Amazon Luna announced Tim Coombs as head of brand marketing. Coombs moved from Xbox, where he served as director of brand management until July 2026, and earlier held product marketing leadership roles for Amazon Lumberyard and Amazon Game Tech. Erik Mogensen departed 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. Blizzard Entertainment added Ryan Rubin as senior producer. Rubin’s résumé includes senior production work on Netflix mobile titles Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset, as well as five years at Riot Games on League of Legends creative development. Battlestate Games appointed Andrey Odintsov head of marketing.
Odintsov previously managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and now works as an independent growth consultant. Frontier Developments named Dan Lazarides chief marketing officer, succeeding Jo Cooke after her promotion to CEO. Lazarides previously held the senior vice‑president of marketing role at Sega Europe.
Kalypso Media UK hired Karen Ionescu as digital sales manager. Ionescu brings experience from Numskull Games, Nintendo, and Rising Star Games. Swipe Right promoted Hannah Barrett to senior account executive. Barrett joined the esports and gaming communications agency in December 2025 as an account executive.
Supercell appointed Anni Pyy as contract manager; Pyy previously held the same title at Metacore for four years. Fintech platform ZBD announced Nathan Solbrandt as senior vice president of business development. Solbrandt’s background includes senior account work at Motorica and a vice‑president role at Xsolla for the Americas. Riot Games added Olivia Lee as internal events producer, following her tenure as associate producer for internal programs.
Xsolla welcomed Ciarah Pritchard as account coordinator, after she worked as an account performance manager at Playback Rewards. Bethesda reinstated Tracey Thompson as vice president of communications.
Thompson originally joined Bethesda in 2009, left for Electronic Arts in 2019, and now returns to oversee communications for the studio’s flagship franchises. Nintendo of America named Maddie Richter social media marketing manager; Richter previously managed social channels for Alaska Airlines. Yotta Games hired narrative designer Dana Duffield, who comes from a senior narrative designer role 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 (former producer, animator, and artist for Team Gramps and Queensguard, and instructor at Submarine Art School and The Code Zone). Roblox’s Foundation AI team added 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. Rockstar Games appointed Sathvik Sudireddy as marketing manager for live services.
Sudireddy previously managed product for Call of Duty at Activision after an internship in business development. Netflix Games named Joe Chard lead product manager. Chard’s prior experience includes a vice‑president, studio general manager, and head of product role at Jam City, as well as senior positions at Disney and Warner Bros.