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 noteworthy moves in one place. If your studio has recent staffing changes that belong in this list, please forward the name, new title, new company and previous role/company to newhires@gamesindustry.biz.
Former Epic Games executive Ben Board has been tapped to lead The Performance Guys, the optimisation arm of CodeDev Group, as its new 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 breadth of experience across both classic and modern development environments. "Ben is a genuine heavyweight in the industry, and his technical credibility speaks for itself," said Myke Parrot, CEO of CodeDev Group. "He has seen game creation from every angle – from writing engine scripts to steering developer relations for the world’s biggest platforms. Appointing Ben as CEO sends a clear signal: if a title is struggling with performance on any engine, we have the most capable team on the planet to fix it." In other headline 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 indie studio released its debut title, The Plucky Squire, in September 2024. His return marks a homecoming to the brand he helped shape for many years. Billy King has been named Lead Concept Artist at Respawn Entertainment. King previously led concept work at ZeniMax Online Studios and served as a senior concept artist for Amazon Games, bringing a strong portfolio of sci‑fi and fantasy visuals to his new role.
Team17 welcomes Sam Duncombe as Brand Marketing Manager. Duncombe arrives from Warner Bros. Discovery, where he managed product initiatives across games and film. Loom Games adds Cansu Karahan Can as People and Culture Manager.
Can’s most recent position was the same title at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion), where she oversaw employee experience and organisational development. At Fellow Traveller, Christopher Wulf has been promoted to Senior Business Development Manager. Wulf, who joined the company in 2021, previously worked for The Triple‑i Initiative as senior business and event manager.
Wizards of the Coast appoints Julie Derhak as a producer on the Dungeons & Dragons line. 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 names Alvaro Menéndez as International Social Lead. Menéndez comes from Epic Games Madrid, where he was senior marketing manager.
Frontier Developments promotes Linus Johnsson to Senior Audio Designer. Johnsson began his Frontier career in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has since advanced to a senior position. After seven years at Epic, Nate Nanzer departs to become EVP, Head of Commercial & Marketing at Paramount Games.
Nanzer’s most recent Epic role was SVP of Partnerships and Monetisation. He said, "The scale of the ambition and vision here for what's next is incredibly exciting.
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 announces Julia Gutnik as Head of Media. Gutnik previously 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. Studio MDHR brings on Lorna Antoniazzi as Art Producer. Antoniazzi’s prior experience includes a producer role at Roarty Digital, where she contributed to Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite.
Grand Games appoints Aysu Kutbay as Product Manager, following a product‑management role at Rollic. Games Workshop welcomes back David Bailey as Lead Commercial Manager – Licensing. Bailey originally joined the company in 2019, left in 2021 for a director role at Sumo Digital, and now returns to help drive new licensing opportunities across the Warhammer universe.
Second Stage adds Liana Murphy as Account Director for U.S. operations.
Murphy previously held the dual titles of COO and Head of Public Relations at Vicariously and V Publishing. Amazon Luna names 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 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. Mogensen spent 23 years at Games Workshop, most recently as Head of Business Development and Consumer Product Licensing, before deciding to explore his next chapter.
Blizzard Entertainment brings Ryan Rubin on board as Senior Producer. Rubin previously produced two mobile titles for Netflix—Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset—and spent five years at Riot Games working on creative development for the League of Legends franchise.
Battlestate Games appoints Andrey Odintsov as Head of Marketing. Odintsov’s background includes user‑acquisition leadership at Multicast Games and independent consultancy work in growth and go‑to‑market strategy. Frontier Developments announces Dan Lazarides as Chief Marketing Officer.
Lazarides arrives from Sega Europe, where he was Senior Vice President of Marketing, and replaces Jo Cooke, who moved to the CEO role in January. Cooke praised Lazarides, noting his experience with major IPs and his focus on a player‑first strategy. Kalypso Media UK names Karen Ionescu as Digital Sales Manager. Ionescu’s résumé includes sales leadership at Numskull Games, as well as stints at Nintendo and Rising Star Games.
Swipe Right promotes Hannah Barrett to Senior Account Executive. Barrett joined the esports and gaming communications agency in December 2025 as an account executive before earning the promotion.
Supercell hires Anni Pyy as Contract Manager; she previously held the same position at Metacore for four years. Fintech platform ZBD appoints Nathan Solbrandt as SVP of Business Development. Solbrandt’s prior roles include senior account executive at Motorica and Vice President of Business Development for the Americas at Xsolla. Riot Games adds Olivia Lee as Internal Events Producer, after serving as associate producer for internal events and programs.
Xsolla brings Ciarah Pritchard on as Account Coordinator; she formerly worked as an account performance manager at Playback Rewards. Bethesda welcomes back Tracey Thompson as Vice President of Communications.
Thompson originally joined Bethesda in 2009, left in 2019 for EA, and now returns to support iconic franchises alongside Xbox. Nintendo of America names Maddie Richter as Social Media Marketing Manager. Richter’s previous position was social media manager at Alaska Airlines. Yotta Games hires narrative designer Dana Duffield, who most recently 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 (ex‑junior producer at Atelier 11) and Charlotte Pang as Publishing Coordinator (previously a producer, animator and artist for Team Gramps and Queensguard, and an instructor at Submarine Art School and The Code Zone). Roblox’s Foundation AI team expands with Steffen Holm and Chris Kruger, both of whom co‑founded the AI interactive platform Jars AI in 2023 after securing $3.5 million in funding from Google and other investors.
They will help develop the mobile‑first AI creation tool Build in New Zealand. Rockstar Games appoints 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 names Joe Chard as Lead Product Manager. 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 Disney and Warner Bros.