Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions and departures across the gaming sector can be a real challenge, which is why we publish periodic round‑ups that capture the most noteworthy moves. If your organization has recent staffing changes that belong in this list, please forward the name, new title, new employer 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 genuine industry heavyweight whose reputation and technical authority 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 Ben as CEO sends a clear signal: if your title suffers a performance issue on any engine, we have the best team on the planet to fix it." James Turner has re‑joined The Pokémon Company International 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 debut title, The Plucky Squire, in September 2024.
His return places him back at the heart of the franchise’s visual direction. Billy King steps into the role of lead concept artist at Respawn Entertainment. King previously held the same title at ZeniMax Online Studios and was senior concept artist at Amazon Games, bringing a wealth of experience in high‑profile IP design. Sam Duncombe is now brand marketing manager for Team17, after serving as product manager for games and film at Warner Bros.
Discovery. Cansu Karahan Can joins Loom Games as people‑and‑culture manager, having performed the same function at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion). Christopher Wulf has been promoted to senior business development manager at Fellow Traveller. He first joined the studio in 2021 and previously worked for The Triple‑i Initiative as senior business and event manager.
Julie Derhak becomes 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. Alvaro Menéndez takes the post of international social lead at Mojang Studios.
Before that he was senior marketing manager for Epic Games in Madrid. Linus Johnsson is promoted to senior audio designer at Frontier Developments, having joined the company in 2022 as a graduate audio designer. After seven years at Epic Games, Nate Nanzer departs to become executive vice‑president, head of commercial & marketing at Paramount Games.
His most recent Epic role 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 is appointed head of media at Amazon Gaming. She previously led media, social and analytics at Kia America and spent over six years at Prime Video and Amazon Studios as head of 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," she explained. Lorna Antoniazzi becomes art producer at Studio MDHR, after producing at Roarty Digital on Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite.
Aysu Kutbay is named product manager at Grand Games, coming from a similar role at Rollic. 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 and help spearhead new licensing business." Liana Murphy is appointed account director, US operations at Second Stage, after simultaneously serving as COO and head of PR 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 and 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. 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, Transformers – and I look forward to the next chapter," he reflected. Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as senior producer, after senior producer roles at Netflix (Squid Game: Unleashed, Selling Sunset) and five years at Riot Games on League of Legends creative development. Andrey Odintsov is appointed head of marketing at Battlestate Games, having previously managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and now consulting independently on growth and go‑to‑market strategies.
Dan Lazarides takes the chief marketing officer seat at Frontier Developments. He came from senior vice‑president of marketing at Sega Europe, succeeding Jo Cooke who became Frontier’s CEO in January. Cooke praised Lazarides, saying his experience with major IPs will bolster Frontier’s 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 welcomed her, noting her extensive retail and digital channel relationships. Hannah Barrett is promoted to senior account executive at esports and gaming communications agency Swipe Right, having joined as account executive in December 2025. Supercell names Anni Pyy as contract manager; she 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 VP role at Xsolla for the Americas. Olivia Lee is appointed 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, later moved to EA as head of product and studio integrated communications, and now looks forward to supporting iconic franchises alongside Xbox. Maddie Richter is named social media marketing manager at Nintendo of America, after a role as social media manager at Alaska Airlines.
Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as narrative designer, having been 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 (previous junior producer at Atelier 11) and Charlotte Pang as publishing coordinator (former producer, animator and artist at 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.
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 becomes marketing manager, live services at Rockstar Games, after product management on Call of Duty at Activision and a business‑development internship at Rockstar. Joe Chard is appointed lead product manager at Netflix Games, following a tenure as vice‑president, studio general manager and head of product at Jam City, plus senior roles at Disney and Warner Bros.