Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions and departures across the games sector can be a real challenge. That’s why we gather the most noteworthy personnel changes into periodic round‑ups for easy reference. If your organization has news to share—new appointments, role changes, or departures—please forward the details (name, new title, new company, previous role and company) to newhires@gamesindustry.biz.
In a major leadership shift, 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 stepped into 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 across both legacy and modern development pipelines. "Ben is a genuine heavyweight in the industry, with a reputation and technical authority that speak for themselves," said Myke Parrot, CEO of CodeDev Group.
"He has seen game creation from every angle – from writing engine scripts to steering developer relations for the world’s largest platforms. Appointing Ben as CEO of The Performance Guys sends a crystal‑clear signal: if your title suffers from performance bottlenecks on any engine, we have the world’s premier team to resolve them." 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 praise for its inventive mechanics and charming visual style.
Billy King steps into the role of lead concept artist at Respawn Entertainment. King’s previous experience includes leading concept work at ZeniMax Online Studios and serving as senior concept artist for Amazon Games, where he helped shape visual direction for several high‑profile live‑service titles. Sam Duncombe moves to Team17 as brand marketing manager, after a tenure as product manager for games and film at Warner Bros. Discovery.
In his new capacity he will oversee brand strategy for the publisher’s diverse portfolio, ranging from classic indie hits to new IP launches. Cansu Karahan Can joins Loom Games as people‑and‑culture manager.
Can previously performed the same function at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion), where she built robust HR frameworks and championed inclusive workplace initiatives. Christopher Wulf earns a promotion to senior business development manager at Fellow Traveller. Wulf, who entered the firm in 2021, previously served as senior business and event manager for The Triple‑i Initiative, where he coordinated large‑scale industry conferences and partnership programmes.
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 crossover, before moving into tabletop publishing. Alvaro Menéndez takes on the role of international social lead at Mojang Studios.
Menéndez’s most recent post was senior marketing manager for Epic Games in Madrid, where he oversaw global social campaigns for flagship titles. Linus Johnsson is promoted to senior audio designer at Frontier Developments.
Having joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer, Johnsson has since contributed to the soundscapes of several of the studio’s simulation titles. Nate Nanzer departs Epic Games after a seven‑year stint to become executive vice‑president, head of commercial & marketing at Paramount Games. His last position at Epic was senior vice‑president of partnerships and monetisation. "The scale of ambition and vision 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 assumes the head of media role 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 directed digital and ad‑tech media strategies.
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 is appointed product manager at Grand Games, coming from a product‑management role at Rollic where she oversaw live‑ops and monetisation for several mobile hits.
David Bailey returns to Games Workshop as lead commercial manager – licensing. Bailey originally joined the company 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 licensing business." Liana Murphy becomes account director for US operations at Second Stage, after serving concurrently as COO and head of public relations at Vicariously and V Publishing. Tim Coombs is named head of brand marketing for Amazon Luna.
Coombs previously directed brand management at Xbox until July 2026, having risen through the ranks from senior manager for brand strategy in 2020. Erik Mogensen exits Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast after three years as senior director of business development for digital gaming. His 23‑year career at Games Workshop culminated 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," he reflected. Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment 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 IP. Andrey Odintsov is appointed head of marketing at Battlestate Games.
He previously managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and now consults independently on growth and go‑to‑market strategies for games. Dan Lazarides becomes chief marketing officer at Frontier Developments, succeeding Jo Cooke after her promotion to CEO. Lazarides formerly served as senior vice‑president of marketing at Sega Europe. "Dan brings a wealth of experience on some of the industry's largest IPs, and his leadership will continue Frontier's upward momentum," said Cooke.
Karen Ionescu takes the digital sales manager position at Kalypso Media UK. Ionescu’s background includes sales roles at Numskull Games, Nintendo and Rising Star Games.
"Her extensive commercial experience and strong retailer relationships make her a fantastic addition," noted Managing Director Andrew Johnson. 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 spent four years in the same capacity at Metacore. 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 hired as internal events producer at Riot Games, following a stint as associate producer for internal events and programs. Ciarah Pritchard joins Xsolla as account coordinator, after serving 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 for EA in 2019, and now says, "I'm looking forward to partnering with the talented people across Bethesda and Xbox, supporting the teams behind iconic franchises and helping bring their creativity to players worldwide." Maddie Richter is named social media marketing manager at Nintendo of America, after previously managing social channels for Alaska Airlines. Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as a narrative designer, having been 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, with past roles 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 become part of Roblox's Foundation AI team, supporting 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 explained. Sathvik Sudireddy joins Rockstar Games as marketing manager for live services, after product‑management 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. Chard previously held senior leadership positions at Jam City, The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros.
Entertainment, bringing a wealth of experience in product strategy and studio management. These movements illustrate the dynamic nature of talent flow within the interactive entertainment sector, highlighting how seasoned professionals continue to shape the future of gaming across studios, publishers and ancillary services.