Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, departures, and promotions in the video‑game sector can be a daunting task. That’s why we publish periodic round‑ups that gather all the noteworthy personnel moves in one place. If you have a recent appointment or a transition you think belongs in this list, please forward the name, new title, 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 heavyweight in the industry, with a reputation and technical expertise that speak for themselves," said CodeDev Group founder Myke Parrot.
"He understands game creation from the low‑level engine code to high‑level developer relations on the world’s biggest platforms. Appointing him as CEO sends a clear signal: any game suffering performance issues on any engine can turn to us for the best fix in the world." James Turner has rejoined 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 released its first title, The Plucky Squire, in September 2024. Billy King steps into the role of lead concept artist at Respawn Entertainment.
King previously led concept work at ZeniMax Online Studios and served as senior concept artist for Amazon Games. Sam Duncombe moves to Team17 as brand marketing manager after a stint as product manager for games and film at Warner Bros.
Discovery. Cansu Karahan Can becomes people and culture manager at Loom Games, having previously held the same title at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion). Christopher Wulf earns a promotion to senior business development manager at Fellow Traveller, where he has worked since 2021. Before that he was senior business and event manager for The Triple‑i Initiative.
Julie Derhak is appointed 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.
Alvaro Menéndez joins Mojang Studios as international social lead. He previously served as senior marketing manager for Epic Games in Madrid. Linus Johnsson is promoted to senior audio designer at Frontier Developments, after joining the studio in 2022 as a graduate audio designer.
After seven years at Epic Games, Nate Nanzer departs to become executive vice‑president and head of commercial & marketing at Paramount Games. Nanzer’s most recent Epic role was senior vice‑president of partnerships and monetisation. "The ambition and vision for what comes next at Paramount are incredibly exciting," Nanzer said. "I’ve spent my career at the crossroads of games, entertainment, and fandom, and the chance to help shape the next chapter was simply too compelling to pass up.
I’m deeply grateful to everyone at Epic and to 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 takes over as 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, where she headed digital and ad‑tech media.
"After two years in the automotive sector, I’m returning to my entertainment roots and to the company that shaped me into a global marketing leader," Gutnik explained. Lorna Antoniazzi becomes art producer at Studio MDHR, after previously producing at Roarty Digital on projects such as Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Aysu Kutbay is named product manager at Grand Games, following a product‑management role 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 to become director of business affairs at Sumo Digital, and now says, "It’s a privilege to return to the vast, evergreen Warhammer universes and help drive new licensing opportunities. It’s an incredible opportunity and great to be back working alongside fantastic people." Liana Murphy is appointed account director for US operations at Second Stage after serving simultaneously as COO and head of public relations at Vicariously and V Publishing. Tim Coombs becomes 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, and before that held product marketing roles for Amazon Lumberyard and Amazon Game Tech. Erik Mogensen exits 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 my favourite brands – Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Transformers – and I look forward to the next chapter, wherever it may be," Mogensen reflected. Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as senior producer. Rubin previously produced two mobile titles at Netflix – 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 is appointed head of marketing at Battlestate Games after user‑acquisition work at Multicast Games and consulting independently on growth and go‑to‑market strategies. Dan Lazarides steps into the chief marketing officer role at Frontier Developments. He formerly served as senior vice‑president of marketing at Sega Europe and replaces Jo Cooke, who became Frontier’s CEO in January. Cooke said, "Dan brings a wealth of experience with some of the industry’s largest IPs.
His leadership will keep Frontier’s momentum strong and reinforce our player‑first strategy." Karen Ionescu becomes digital sales manager at Kalypso Media UK, after sales roles at Numskull Games, Nintendo, and Rising Star Games. Managing director Andrew Johnson praised 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; Pyy previously held the same position at Metacore for four years.
Nathan Solbrandt becomes senior vice‑president of business development at fintech platform ZBD, after senior account 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 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. Thompson originally joined Bethesda in 2009, rose to associate VP of communications, left in 2019 for EA, and now says, "I look forward to partnering with the talented teams across Bethesda and Xbox, supporting the creators behind some of the most iconic franchises, and helping bring their vision to players worldwide." 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, 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 (ex‑producer, animator, and artist for Team Gramps and Queensguard, and former 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.
"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 for live services at Rockstar Games, after product management on Call of Duty at Activision and a business‑development internship at the studio. Joe Chard is appointed lead product manager at Netflix Games, after serving 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.