Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, departures, and promotions in the video‑game sector can be a real challenge, which is why we publish periodic round‑ups that gather all the notable moves in one place. If your studio has announced a new appointment or a transition that belongs in this list, please forward the individual's name, the new title, the company, and the 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 first joined Epic in 2017 as a developer support manager, later advancing to 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 heavyweight in the industry, with a reputation and technical credibility that speak for themselves," said Myke Parrot, CEO of CodeDev Group.
"He has seen game development from every angle – from writing engine scripts to overseeing developer relations for the world’s biggest platforms and engines. Appointing Ben as CEO of The Performance Guys sends a clear signal: if your title suffers from performance issues on any engine, we have the world’s most capable team to fix it." James Turner has re‑joined 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 released its debut title, The Plucky Squire, in September 2024.
Billy King is now the lead concept artist at Respawn Entertainment. King previously held the same senior role at ZeniMax Online Studios and served as a senior concept artist for Amazon Games. Sam Duncombe has taken the position of brand marketing manager at Team 17, after a stint as product manager for games and film at Warner Bros. Discovery.
Cansu Karahan Can joins Loom Games as people‑and‑culture manager, coming from a similar role at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion). Christopher Wulf has been promoted to senior business‑development manager at Fellow Traveler, a company he joined in 2021 after serving as senior business and event manager for The Triple‑i Initiative. Julie Derhak becomes a producer for Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast.
She spent seven years at Epic Games, where she contributed to Fortnite Tech Art and the Lego Fortnite collaboration. Alvaro Menéndez is appointed international social lead at Mojang Studios, after a tenure as senior marketing manager for Epic Games in Madrid.
Linus Johnsson moves up to senior audio designer at Frontier Developments. He entered Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has since progressed through the audio team. Nate Nanzer departs Epic Games after seven years to assume the role of EVP, head of commercial & marketing at Paramount Games.
At Epic his most recent titles were senior vice‑president of partnerships and monetisation. "The scale of ambition and vision for what comes next is incredibly exciting," Nanzer said. "I've spent my career at the crossroads of games, entertainment, and fandom, and the chance to help shape Paramount's future was simply too compelling to pass up. I'm deeply grateful to everyone at Epic and to all the partners I've worked with – I'll always be proud of what we achieved together and will be cheering the team from the sidelines." Julia Gutnik is named head of media at Amazon Gaming.
Previously she led media, social, and analytics for Kia America and spent over six years at Prime Video and Amazon Studios, where she oversaw digital and ad‑tech media. "After two years in the auto sector, I’m returning to my entertainment roots and to the place that shaped me into a global marketing leader," Gutnik explained.
Lorna Antoniazzi becomes an art producer at Studio MDHR, after serving as a producer at Roarty Digital where she worked on Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Aysu Kutbay is appointed product manager at Grand Games, following a product‑management role 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 licensing business. It’s an incredible opportunity and great to be back working alongside fantastic people." Liana Murphy takes the role of account director for US operations at Second Stage, after concurrently holding COO and head of PR positions at Vicariously and V Publishing.
Tim Coombs is named head of brand marketing for Amazon Luna. He previously directed brand management at Xbox until July 2026, having joined Xbox in 2020 as senior manager for brand strategy. Earlier, he was product marketing manager for Amazon Lumberyard in 2017 and later senior product marketing manager and team lead for Amazon Game Tech until April 2020.
Erik Mogensen leaves 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, most recently as head of business development and consumer‑product licensing.
"It’s not lost on me how special it’s been to work on, and for, my favourite brands – first Warhammer, then Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Transformers… the list goes on. I’m very much looking forward to my next chapter, wherever that may be," he reflected.
Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as senior producer. He previously served as senior producer at Netflix, overseeing two shipped 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. He previously managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and currently works as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for games. Dan Lazarides is appointed chief marketing officer at Frontier Developments.
He formerly held the senior vice‑president of marketing role at Sega Europe and succeeded Jo Cooke after she moved to the CEO position at Frontier in January. Cooke praised him, saying his experience with major IPs will keep Frontier’s momentum strong and that his focus on a player‑first strategy will champion community creativity. Karen Ionescu becomes digital sales manager at Kalypso Media UK, after sales‑manager roles at Numskull Games, Nintendo, and Rising Star Games. Managing director Andrew Johnson noted her extensive commercial experience and strong relationships across retail and digital 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; she previously held the same title at Metacore for four years.
Nathan Solbrandt becomes senior vice‑president 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 hired as internal events producer at Riot Games, having previously served as associate producer for internal events and programs. Ciarah Pritchard joins Xsolla as account coordinator, after working as account performance manager at Playback Rewards.
Tracey Thompson returns to Bethesda as vice‑president of communications. She originally joined Bethesda in 2009 as director of publications, later becoming associate VP of communications, left in 2019 for EA, 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 is named 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, following senior narrative‑designer 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 (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 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, raising $3.5 million from Google and other investors. "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," Holm said. Sathvik Sudireddy becomes marketing manager, live services at Rockstar Games, after product‑manager work on Call of Duty at Activision and an internship in business development at Rockstar.
Joe Chard is appointed lead product manager at Netflix Games, having previously served as vice‑president, studio general manager, and head of product at Jam City for six years, as well as senior roles at The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Entertainment.