Keeping track of 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 all the notable moves in one place. If your studio has recent staffing changes that you think belong in this list, please forward the name of the individual, 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’s résumé includes a stint as business development director for the Epic Game Store and Unreal Engine, a position he earned after joining Epic in 2017 as a developer‑support manager.
Earlier in his career he held senior leadership posts at iconic studios such as Bullfrog Productions, Lionhead Studios and BossAlien. "Ben is a genuine heavyweight in our industry – his reputation and technical credibility precede him," remarked CodeDev Group founder Myke Parrot. "He has seen game creation from every angle, whether it’s writing engine scripts or shepherding developer relations for the world’s biggest platforms.
Appointing Ben as CEO sends a crystal‑clear signal: if your title suffers a performance bottleneck on any engine, we have the premier team on the planet to fix it." 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; the studio’s debut title, The Plucky Squire, launched in September 2024 and earned critical praise for its inventive platforming. 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 high‑impact visual designs for live‑service and AAA titles. Sam Duncombe has been promoted to Brand Marketing Manager at Team17, after a tenure as Product Manager for games and film at Warner Bros. Discovery.
Cansu Karahan Can joins Loom Games as People and Culture Manager, having previously overseen the same function at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion). Christopher Wulf moves up to Senior Business Development Manager at Fellow Traveller, a role he has held since 2021 following a senior business‑and‑event management position with The Triple‑i Initiative. 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 shifting to tabletop gaming.
Alvaro Menéndez takes on the post of International Social Lead at Mojang Studios. He arrives from Epic Games Madrid, where he was Senior Marketing Manager, and will oversee global community initiatives for Minecraft and related properties.
Linus Johnsson has been elevated to Senior Audio Designer at Frontier Developments. Johnsson joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has since progressed through the sound team, contributing to titles such as Elite Dangerous and Planet Zoo. After seven years at Epic Games, Nate Nanzer departs to become Executive Vice President, Head of Commercial & Marketing at Paramount Games.
Nanzer’s Epic résumé culminated in the role of SVP of Partnerships and Monetisation. "The scale of ambition and vision here for what's next is incredibly exciting," Nanzer said.
"I've spent my career at the intersection of games, entertainment, and fandom, and the chance to help shape Paramount's future was simply too compelling to pass up." Julia Gutnik is appointed 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’s entertainment divisions, including Prime Video and Amazon Studios, where she directed digital and ad‑tech media strategy. "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 noted. Lorna Antoniazzi joins Studio MDHR as Art Producer, after producing at Roarty Digital on projects such as Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite.
Aysu Kutbay becomes Product Manager at Grand Games, moving from a similar role at Rollic where she helped launch several successful mobile titles. 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 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. It's an incredible opportunity and it's great to be back in the fold working alongside great people." Liana Murphy is named Account Director, US Operations at Second Stage, after serving concurrently as COO and Head of PR at Vicariously and V Publishing.
Tim Coombs assumes the position of Head of Brand Marketing for Amazon Luna. Coombs previously directed brand management at Xbox until July 2026, having joined Microsoft in 2020 as Senior Manager for Brand Strategy. Earlier, he managed product marketing for Amazon Lumberyard (2017) and later led Amazon Game Tech’s product marketing team 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 – Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Transformers… the list goes on. I'm very much looking forward to my next chapter, wherever that may be." Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as Senior Producer. Rubin previously produced two shipped 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 named Head of Marketing at Battlestate Games. He formerly managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and now operates as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for the gaming sector. Dan Lazarides becomes Chief Marketing Officer at Frontier Developments, succeeding Jo Cooke who moved to the CEO role in January.
Lazarides previously served as Senior Vice President of Marketing at Sega Europe. Cooke praised the hire: "We are delighted to welcome Dan to Frontier, who brings a wealth of experience on some of the industry's largest IPs. His leadership will continue Frontier's upward momentum and underscore our player‑first strategy." Karen Ionescu is appointed Digital Sales Manager at Kalypso Media UK. Ionescu brings experience from Numskull Games, Nintendo and Rising Star Games.
Managing Director Andrew Johnson said, "We're delighted to welcome Karen – she brings a wealth of commercial experience and long‑standing relationships across both retail and digital sales channels, making her a fantastic addition to the team." 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 adds Anni Pyy as Contract Manager; Pyy previously held the same role at Metacore for four years. Nathan Solbrandt becomes SVP of Business Development at fintech platform ZBD, after senior account work at Motorica and a Vice‑President stint at Xsolla for the Americas. Olivia Lee joins Riot Games as Internal Events Producer, having previously served as Associate Producer for internal events and programs.
Ciarah Pritchard is appointed 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 originally joined Bethesda in 2009 as Director of Publications, rose to 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 becomes Social Media Marketing Manager at Nintendo of America, after a tenure as Social Media Manager for Alaska Airlines.
Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as Narrative Designer, following a senior narrative design 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, with a background as producer, animator and artist for Team Gramps and Queensguard, plus teaching experience at Submarine Art School and The Code Zone).
Steffen Holm and Chris Kruger have been added to 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 joins Rockstar Games as Marketing Manager, Live Services, after product management work on Call of Duty at Activision and an internship in business development at Rockstar.
Joe Chard becomes Lead Product Manager at Netflix Games, after serving as Vice President, Studio General Manager and Head of Product at Jam City for six years, and holding senior positions at Disney and Warner Bros.