Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures across the games sector can be a daunting task, which is why we publish periodic round‑ups that gather the most noteworthy movements in one place. If your organization has recent staffing changes that belong in this list, please forward the name of the appointee, their new title, the company, and their previous role and employer 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 resume 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 breadth of experience that spans both classic and modern development pipelines.
"Ben is a true industry heavyweight whose reputation and technical authority speak for themselves," said Myke Parrot, CEO of CodeDev Group. "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, taking on the role of 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 mechanics and charming aesthetic.
Billy King has been appointed lead concept artist at Respawn Entertainment. King arrives from ZeniMax Online Studios, where he served as lead concept artist, and previously held a senior concept artist position at Amazon Games. His portfolio includes work on large‑scale live‑service titles and narrative‑driven projects, making him a strong fit for Respawn’s ambitious upcoming releases. Sam Duncombe steps into the role of brand marketing manager at Team17.
Before joining Team17, Duncombe was product manager for games and film at Warner Bros. Discovery, where he oversaw cross‑media campaigns and helped launch several high‑profile titles. Cansu Karahan Can has taken the people‑and‑culture manager position at Loom Games. Can previously performed the same function at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion), where she built HR frameworks that supported rapid studio growth.
Christopher Wulf has been promoted to senior business development manager at Fellow Traveller. Wulf, who joined the company in 2021, previously worked for The Triple‑i Initiative as senior business and event manager, bringing a strong network of industry contacts to his new role. 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 production.
Alvaro Menéndez has become international social lead at Mojang Studios. He comes from a senior marketing manager role at Epic Games’ Madrid office, where he oversaw global community initiatives for Minecraft and related titles. Linus Johnsson earned a promotion to senior audio designer at Frontier Developments.
Johnsson first joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has since contributed to the soundscapes of several major releases. Nate Nanzer departs Epic Games after a seven‑year tenure to assume the position of EVP, head of commercial & marketing at Paramount Games. Nanzer’s most recent Epic role was SVP of partnerships and monetisation.
He remarked, "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." Julia Gutnik has been named head of media at Amazon Gaming.
Gutnik previously led media, social, and analytics at Kia America and spent over six years at Prime Video and Amazon Studios, where she directed digital and ad‑tech media strategies. She said, "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." Lorna Antoniazzi joins Studio MDHR as art producer.
Antoniazzi’s prior experience includes a producer role at Roarty Digital, where she worked on Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Aysu Kutbay is now product manager at Grand Games, after serving as product manager at Rollic. David Bailey returns to Games Workshop as lead commercial manager – licensing.
Bailey originally joined Games Workshop in 2019 as senior licensing manager, left in 2021 to become director of business affairs 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 becomes account director, US operations at Second Stage. Murphy previously held simultaneous COO and head‑of‑PR roles at Vicariously and V Publishing. Tim Coombs is appointed head of brand marketing for Amazon Luna. Coombs previously directed brand management at Xbox until July 2026 and earlier served as product marketing manager for Amazon Lumberyard in 2017, then senior product marketing manager and team lead for Amazon Game Tech until 2020.
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, and most recently Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Transformers… the list goes on.
I'm very much looking forward to my next chapter, whatever and wherever that may be." Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as senior producer. Rubin previously served as senior producer at Netflix, where he helped ship mobile titles 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 becomes head of marketing at Battlestate Games. Odintsov previously managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and now works as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for games.
Dan Lazarides is named chief marketing officer at Frontier Developments. Lazarides previously served as senior vice president of marketing at Sega Europe and succeeded Jo Cooke after her promotion to CEO in January. Cooke commented, "We are delighted to welcome Dan to Frontier, who brings with him a wealth of experience on some of the industry's largest IP.
His leadership in this genre will continue Frontier's upward momentum, and his appointment to the role of CMO highlights our focus on our communities." Karen Ionescu takes the digital sales manager role at Kalypso Media UK. Ionescu’s background includes sales manager positions at Numskull Games, Nintendo, and Rising Star Games. Managing director Andrew Johnson said, "We're delighted to welcome Karen to Kalypso Media UK. She brings a wealth of commercial experience and long‑standing relationships across both retail and digital sales channels." Hannah Barrett has been 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 title at Metacore for four years. Nathan Solbrandt becomes SVP of business development at fintech platform ZBD. Solbrandt previously worked as senior account executive at Motorica and was vice president of business development for the Americas at Xsolla. Olivia Lee is now internal events producer at Riot Games, after serving as associate producer for internal events and programs.
Ciarah Pritchard joins Xsolla as account coordinator, having earlier been account performance manager at Playback Rewards. Tracey Thompson returns to Bethesda as vice president of communications. Thompson originally joined Bethesda in 2009, later moved to EA in 2019, and now says, "I'm looking forward to partnering with the talented people across Bethesda and Xbox, supporting the teams behind some of the most iconic franchises in entertainment, and helping bring their creativity and vision to players around the world." Maddie Richter becomes social media marketing manager at Nintendo of America, after a stint as social media manager at Alaska Airlines.
Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as a narrative designer, previously senior narrative designer 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, 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 have joined 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, 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, live services at Rockstar Games. Sudireddy previously served as product manager on Call of Duty at Activision after an internship in business development at the developer.
Joe Chard is appointed lead product manager at Netflix Games. Chard’s background includes VP, studio general manager, and head of product at Jam City, as well as senior roles at The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros.
Entertainment.