Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions and departures in the video‑game sector can be a real challenge. That’s why we put together periodic round‑ups that capture the most noteworthy personnel moves across the industry. If you know of any recent appointments or role changes that belong in this list, please forward the name, new title, company, as well as the previous position 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 joined Epic in 2017 as a developer support manager before moving on to become business development director for the Epic Game Store and Unreal Engine. His résumé also includes senior leadership stints at Bullfrog Productions, Lionhead Studios and BossAlien. "Ben is a genuine heavyweight in the industry, with a reputation and technical credibility that speak for themselves," remarked CodeDev Group founder Myke Parrot. "He has seen game creation from every angle – from writing engine code to overseeing developer relations for the world’s biggest platforms and engines.
Appointing Ben as CEO sends a crystal‑clear signal: if your title is suffering from performance issues on any engine, we have the world’s premier team to remedy it." James Turner has re‑joined The Pokémon Company International, this time as Creative Director of Pokémon Art and Design. Turner departed 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 held the same title at ZeniMax Online Studios and was a senior concept artist for Amazon Games. Sam Duncombe moves to Team 17 as Brand Marketing Manager, 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 previously performed that function at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion).
Christopher Wulf is promoted to Senior Business Development Manager at Fellow Traveller. Wulf entered the company in 2021 after a senior business and events role with The Triple‑i Initiative.
Julie Derhak becomes a Producer for Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast. She spent seven years at Epic Games, contributing to Fortnite Tech Art and the Lego‑Fortnite collaboration. Alvaro Menéndez takes on the position of International Social Lead at Mojang Studios.
Before that, he was Senior Marketing Manager for Epic Games in Madrid. Linus Johnsson is elevated to Senior Audio Designer at Frontier Developments, where he started 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 SVP of Partnerships and Monetisation. "The scale of ambition and vision for what comes 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.
I'm deeply grateful to everyone at Epic and to all 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 is appointed Head of Media at Amazon Gaming. She previously 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 place that shaped me into a global marketing leader," Gutnik explained.
Lorna Antoniazzi joins Studio MDHR as Art Producer, after a producer role at Roarty Digital where she worked on Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Aysu Kutbay becomes Product Manager at Grand Games, following a product‑management stint 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 licensing business. It’s an incredible opportunity and great to be back working alongside fantastic people." Liana Murphy is named Account Director, US Operations at Second Stage, after serving simultaneously as COO and Head of PR at Vicariously and V Publishing.
Tim Coombs takes the helm as Head of Brand Marketing for Amazon Luna. He previously directed brand management at Xbox until July 2026, having joined the console maker in 2020 as Senior Manager for Brand Strategy.
Earlier, he was Product Marketing Manager for Amazon Lumberyard in 2017 and later Senior Product Marketing Manager and team lead for Amazon Game Tech until April 2020. 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, and for, my favourite brands – from Warhammer to Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Transformers… the list goes on.
I’m very much looking forward to my next chapter, wherever that may be," he reflected. Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as Senior Producer.
Rubin previously held senior producer roles at Netflix, overseeing two shipped mobile titles – 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 formerly managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and now works as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for games. Dan Lazarides becomes Chief Marketing Officer at Frontier Developments.
He previously served as Senior Vice President of Marketing at Sega Europe and succeeded Jo Cooke after her promotion to Frontier CEO in January. Cooke said, "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 underscores our focus on community‑first strategies." Karen Ionescu is hired as Digital Sales Manager at Kalypso Media UK, after sales roles at Numskull Games, Nintendo and Rising Star Games. Managing Director Andrew Johnson praised her: "She brings a wealth of commercial experience and long‑standing relationships across both retail and digital channels, making her a fantastic addition to the team." Hannah Barrett is promoted to Senior Account Executive at esports and gaming communications agency Swipe Right, having joined as an account executive in December 2025.
Supercell names 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‑presidential business‑development role at Xsolla for the Americas. Olivia Lee is appointed Internal Events Producer at Riot Games, following an associate producer role 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 VP of Communications. Thompson originally joined Bethesda in 2009 as Director of Publications, later becoming 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 is hired as Social Media Marketing Manager at Nintendo of America, after a stint as Social Media Manager for Alaska Airlines. Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as Narrative Designer, previously a 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, formerly Producer, Animator and Artist for 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. "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, Live Services at Rockstar Games, after a product‑manager role on Call of Duty at Activision and an internship in business development at the developer. Joe Chard is appointed Lead Product Manager at Netflix Games, following a six‑year tenure as Vice President, Studio General Manager and Head of Product at Jam City, plus senior gaming positions at The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros.
Entertainment.