Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions and departures in the video‑game sector can be a real challenge, which is why we publish periodic round‑ups of the most notable moves. If your studio has news to share, please forward the name, new title, new company and previous role 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 writing 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 rejoined 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 first title, The Plucky Squire, launched in September 2024 and earned praise for its inventive storytelling. Billy King has been named lead concept artist at Respawn Entertainment.
King previously held the same senior role at ZeniMax Online Studios and was a senior concept artist for Amazon Games, contributing to a range of high‑profile projects across multiple genres. Sam Duncombe moves to Team17 as brand‑marketing manager after serving as product manager for games and film at Warner Bros. Discovery.
In his new role, Duncombe will steer brand strategy for the UK‑based indie powerhouse. Cansu Karahan Can joins Loom Games as people‑and‑culture manager, having previously performed the same function at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion). Her focus will be on nurturing talent and shaping company culture as Loom expands its portfolio of narrative‑driven titles.
Christopher Wulf has been promoted to senior business‑development manager at Fellow Traveller. Wulf first arrived at the company in 2021 after a stint 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, bringing a wealth of production experience to the tabletop giant.
Alvaro Menéndez becomes international social lead at Mojang Studios. Before this, he was senior marketing manager for Epic Games in Madrid, where he oversaw global community initiatives for titles such as Fortnite and Rocket League. Linus Johnsson is promoted to senior audio designer at Frontier Developments.
Johnsson joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has since contributed to the soundscapes of several of the studio’s acclaimed simulation titles. After seven years at Epic Games, Nate Nanzer departs to take on the EVP, head of commercial & marketing position at Paramount Games. Nanzer’s most recent Epic role was SVP of partnerships and monetisation. "The scale of the ambition and vision here for what's next is incredibly exciting," he 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. Gutnik previously led media, social and analytics for Kia America and spent over six years at Prime Video and Amazon Studios, where she headed digital and ad‑tech media. "After two years navigating the auto industry, I am returning to my entertainment roots, and to the place that shaped me into a global marketing leader," she explained.
Lorna Antoniazzi joins Studio MDHR as art producer. Antoniazzi’s previous experience includes a producer role at Roarty Digital, where she worked on Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Aysu Kutbay becomes product manager at Grand Games after serving as product manager at Rollic, where she helped launch several successful mobile titles. 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 says, "It's a privilege to return to the vast and evergreen Warhammer universes to help spearhead new business for licensing here." Liana Murphy is named account director, US operations at Second Stage. Murphy previously held simultaneous COO and head‑of‑PR positions at Vicariously and V Publishing.
Tim Coombs takes the helm of brand marketing for Amazon Luna. Before this, he was director of brand management at Xbox until July 2026 and earlier served as product marketing manager for Amazon Lumberyard in 2017 and senior product marketing manager for 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. He reflected, "It's not lost on me how special it's been to have worked on, and for, my favourite brands – first Warhammer, then Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Transformers…" Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as senior producer. Rubin previously produced two shipped mobile titles for Netflix – Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset – and spent five years at Riot Games developing creative content for the League of Legends IP.
Andrey Odintsov is appointed head of marketing at Battlestate Games. He formerly managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and now works as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for games.
Dan Lazarides becomes chief marketing officer at Frontier Developments. Lazarides previously served as senior vice president of marketing at Sega Europe and replaces Jo Cooke, who moved to the CEO role at Frontier in January. Cooke praised him, noting that his leadership will "continue Frontier's upward momentum" and support a player‑first strategy.
Karen Ionescu is hired as digital sales manager at Kalypso Media UK. Ionescu brings experience from Numskull Games, Nintendo and Rising Star Games. Managing director Andrew Johnson said, "She brings a wealth of commercial experience and long‑standing relationships across both retail and digital sales channels." 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; Pyy previously held the same role at Metacore for four years. Nathan Solbrandt becomes SVP 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 named internal events producer at Riot Games, having previously coordinated internal programs and events. Ciarah Pritchard joins Xsolla as account coordinator, 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 for EA in 2019, and now looks forward to supporting iconic franchises across Bethesda and Xbox. Maddie Richter becomes social media marketing manager at Nintendo of America, after a stint as social media manager for 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 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).
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 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 experience on Call of Duty at Activision.
Joe Chard is appointed lead product manager at Netflix Games, bringing former senior leadership roles from Jam City, Disney and Warner Bros.