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 capture the most noteworthy moves. If you know of a staffing change that belongs in this list, 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’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 manager of developer support.
Earlier in his career he held senior positions at classic studios such as Bullfrog Productions, Lionhead Studios, and BossAlien, giving him a broad perspective on both legacy and modern development pipelines. "Ben is a true industry heavy‑hitter whose reputation and technical authority speak for themselves," said Myke Parrot, CEO of CodeDev Group.
"He understands game development from every angle – from coding 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." In other news, James Turner has re‑joined The Pokémon Company International, this time as creative director of Pokémon Art and Design. Turner 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 whimsical art style. Billy King has been named lead concept artist at Respawn Entertainment.
King previously headed concept art at ZeniMax Online Studios and served as senior concept artist for Amazon Games, where he helped shape the visual direction of several high‑profile projects. Team17 welcomes Sam Duncombe as brand marketing manager. Duncombe comes from Warner Bros. Discovery, where he managed product initiatives across both games and film properties.
Loom Games adds Cansu Karahan Can as its people and culture manager. Can’s most recent role was a similar position at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion), where she oversaw talent acquisition, employee engagement, and organisational development.
At Fellow Traveler, Christopher Wulf has been promoted to senior business development manager. Wulf originally joined the firm in 2021 after a senior business‑and‑event management role at The Triple‑i Initiative. Wizards of the Coast appoints Julie Derhak as a producer for Dungeons & Dragons.
Derhak spent seven years at Epic Games, contributing to Fortnite Tech Art and the Lego Fortnite collaboration, before moving into tabletop production. Mojang Studios announces Alvaro Menéndez as its international social lead. Menéndez previously acted as senior marketing manager for Epic Games in Madrid, where he directed global community campaigns.
Frontier Developments promotes Linus Johnsson to senior audio designer. Johnsson joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has since risen through the ranks, contributing to the sound design of several of the studio’s flagship titles. After a seven‑year tenure at Epic Games, Nate Nanzer departs to become executive vice‑president, head of commercial & marketing at Paramount Games.
Nanzer’s most recent Epic role was senior vice‑president 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." Julia Gutnik steps into 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 Prime Video and Amazon Studios, overseeing digital and ad‑tech media strategies. Studio MDHR adds Lorna Antoniazzi as art producer. Antoniazzi previously produced at Roarty Digital, where she contributed to Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite visual pipelines.
Grand Games appoints Aysu Kutbay as product manager, following her product‑management work at Rollic. 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." Second Stage names Liana Murphy as account director for US operations.
Murphy most recently held dual responsibilities as COO and head of public relations at Vicariously and V Publishing. Amazon Luna welcomes Tim Coombs as head of brand marketing. Coombs previously directed brand management at Xbox until July 2026, after joining the console maker in 2020 as senior manager for brand strategy. Earlier, he served as product marketing manager for Amazon Lumberyard (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, reflecting on his career: "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… the list goes on. I'm very much looking forward to my next chapter, whatever and wherever that may be." Blizzard Entertainment adds Ryan Rubin 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 working on creative development for the League of Legends franchise.
Battlestate Games appoints Andrey Odintsov as head of marketing. Odintsov’s background includes a user‑acquisition lead at Multicast Games and independent consulting on growth and go‑to‑market strategies for games. Frontier Developments announces Dan Lazarides as chief marketing officer.
Lazarides formerly 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 the hire, noting that Lazarides’ experience with large IPs will reinforce Frontier’s player‑first strategy. Kalypso Media UK hires Karen Ionescu as digital sales manager.
Ionescu brings experience from Numskull Games, Nintendo, and Rising Star Games, and managing director Andrew Johnson said, "She brings a wealth of commercial experience and long‑standing relationships across both retail and digital sales channels." Swipe Right promotes Hannah Barrett to senior account executive. Barrett joined the esports and gaming communications agency in December 2025 as an account executive. Supercell adds Anni Pyy as contract manager; Pyy previously held the same position at Metacore for four years.
Fintech platform ZBD appoints Nathan Solbrandt as senior vice‑president 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 brings Olivia Lee on board as internal events producer, after serving as associate producer for internal events and programs. Xsolla hires Ciarah Pritchard as account coordinator; she previously 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, rose to associate VP of communications, left for EA in 2019, and now returns to oversee messaging for some of the industry’s most iconic franchises. Nintendo of America names Maddie Richter as social media marketing manager. Richter’s earlier position was social media manager at Alaska Airlines.
Yotta Games adds narrative designer Dana Duffield, who previously 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 (formerly producer, animator, and artist for Team Gramps and Queensguard, and instructor at Submarine Art School and The Code Zone). Roblox’s Foundation AI team expands with Steffen Holm and Chris Kruger, who co‑founded Jars AI in 2023 after raising $3.5 million from Google and other investors.
Their mission is to push the boundaries of AI‑driven entertainment on the platform’s mobile‑first creation tool, Build, now available in New Zealand. Rockstar Games hires Sathvik Sudireddy as marketing manager for live services. Sudireddy previously managed product for Call of Duty at Activision following a business‑development internship at Rockstar. Netflix Games appoints Joe Chard as lead product manager.
Chard’s background includes a vice‑president, studio general manager, and head of product role at Jam City, plus senior positions at Disney and Warner Bros.