Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures across the gaming sector can be a daunting task, which is why we publish periodic round‑ups that capture the most notable movements. If you know of any personnel changes that belong in this list, please forward the name, new title, new employer, 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’s résumé includes a stint as business development director for the Epic Game Store and Unreal Engine, a role he assumed 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; his reputation and technical credibility speak for themselves," said Myke Parrot, CEO of CodeDev Group.
"He understands the creation process from low‑level engine scripting to high‑level developer relations on the world’s biggest platforms. Appointing Ben as CEO sends a clear signal: wherever a title suffers from performance bottlenecks, our team is the best equipped to resolve them." 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, a studio that launched its first title, The Plucky Squire, in September 2024. His return marks a homecoming to the brand he helped shape for years.
Billy King steps into the role of Lead Concept Artist at Respawn Entertainment. King previously led concept teams at ZeniMax Online Studios and served as a senior concept artist for Amazon Games, bringing a wealth of experience in crafting visual direction for large‑scale live‑service and AAA projects. Sam Duncombe has been named Brand Marketing Manager for Team17. Before joining the UK‑based publisher, Duncombe worked as a product manager overseeing games and film initiatives at Warner Bros.
Discovery, where he honed his cross‑media marketing expertise. Cansu Karahan Can joins Loom Games as People and Culture Manager, after serving in the same capacity at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion). Her focus will be on nurturing talent and building an inclusive workplace culture for the indie studio.
Christopher Wulf earned a promotion to Senior Business Development Manager at Fellow Traveller. Wulf, who arrived at the company in 2021, previously held the senior business and events manager role at The Triple‑i Initiative, where he coordinated large‑scale industry gatherings.
Julie Derhak is now 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, before moving into tabletop RPG production. Alvaro Menéndez has taken the position of International Social Lead at Mojang Studios.
He comes from Epic Games Madrid, where he was Senior Marketing Manager, bringing deep knowledge of global community engagement to the Minecraft team. Linus Johnsson was promoted to Senior Audio Designer at Frontier Developments. Johnsson first joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has since progressed to a senior role, shaping the soundscapes of titles such as Elite Dangerous. Nate Nanzer departs Epic Games after a seven‑year tenure to become Executive Vice President, Head of Commercial & Marketing at Paramount Games.
At Epic his most recent titles were SVP of Partnerships and Monetisation. "The ambition and vision for what's next at Paramount are incredibly exciting," Nanzer said.
"I've spent my career at the intersection of games, entertainment, and fandom, and this opportunity was simply too compelling to pass up." Julia Gutnik assumes the role of Head of Media at Amazon Gaming. Prior to this, she led media, social, and analytics for Kia America and spent over six years at Amazon Studios and Prime Video as head of digital and ad‑tech media.
"Returning to my entertainment roots after two years in the auto sector feels like coming home," Gutnik remarked. Lorna Antoniazzi becomes Art Producer at Studio MDHR, after previously producing at Roarty Digital where she contributed to Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite.
Aysu Kutbay has been appointed Product Manager at Grand Games, moving from a similar role at Rollic where she oversaw mobile title pipelines. 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 Warhammer’s expansive licensing programme. Liana Murphy is now Account Director for US Operations at Second Stage.
She previously juggled the COO and Head of PR duties at Vicariously and V Publishing. Tim Coombs takes over as Head of Brand Marketing for Amazon Luna. Before this, he directed brand management at Xbox from 2020 until July 2026 and earlier served as Product Marketing Manager for Amazon Lumberyard and senior product marketing lead 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.
His previous 23‑year career at Games Workshop culminated in heading business development and consumer product licensing. "Working on my favourite brands – Warhammer, D&D, Magic, Transformers – has been a privilege," he reflected. Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as Senior Producer.
Rubin’s background includes senior production roles at Netflix (where he helped ship Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset mobile games) and five years at Riot Games working on creative development for the League of Legends franchise. Andrey Odintsov is now Head of Marketing at Battlestate Games, after time as User Acquisition Manager at Multicast Games and independent consulting for game growth strategies. Dan Lazarides becomes Chief Marketing Officer at Frontier Developments, succeeding Jo Cooke who moved to the CEO role. Lazarides previously served as Senior Vice President of Marketing for Sega Europe.
"Dan brings a wealth of experience from some of the industry's biggest IPs, and his leadership will keep Frontier’s player‑first strategy moving forward," said CEO Jo Cooke. Karen Ionescu has been named Digital Sales Manager at Kalypso Media UK. Her prior experience includes sales leadership at Numskull Games, Nintendo, and Rising Star Games. Managing Director Andrew Johnson praised her extensive commercial background.
Hannah Barrett was 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 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 joins Riot Games as Internal Events Producer, having earlier served as associate producer for internal programs. Ciarah Pritchard is now Account Coordinator at Xsolla, after working as an account performance manager at Playback Rewards. Tracey Thompson returns to Bethesda as Vice President of Communications.
Thompson first joined Bethesda in 2009, left for EA in 2019, and now looks forward to supporting iconic franchises across Bethesda and Xbox. Maddie Richter has been hired as 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 a senior narrative role 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, former producer, animator and artist for Team Gramps and Queensguard, and educator at Submarine Art School and The Code Zone).
Steffen Holm and Chris Kruger have joined 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 and raised $3.5 million from Google and other investors. Sathvik Sudireddy becomes Marketing Manager, Live Services at Rockstar Games, after product management 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 experience as Vice President, Studio General Manager, and Head of Product at Jam City, plus senior roles at Disney and Warner Bros.