Keeping track of the constant flow of hires, departures, and promotions across the video‑game sector can be a daunting task. To make life easier for industry observers, we publish regular round‑ups that capture the most noteworthy personnel moves. If you know of a change that belongs in this list, please forward the name, new title, new 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’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 iconic studios such as Bullfrog Productions, Lionhead, and BossAlien, giving him a breadth of experience that spans both classic and modern development pipelines. "Ben is a true industry heavy‑hitter whose reputation and technical authority speak for themselves," remarked CodeDev Group founder and CEO Myke Parrot.
"He understands game development from every angle – from writing engine scripts to managing developer relations for the world’s biggest platforms and engines. Bringing Ben in as CEO of The Performance Guys sends an unmistakable message to the market: if your game has a performance problem on any engine, we have the best team on the planet to fix it." In a separate move, James Turner has rejoined The Pokémon Company International 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 storytelling and hand‑drawn aesthetic. Billy King has been named lead concept artist at Respawn Entertainment.
King arrives from ZeniMax Online Studios, where he served as lead concept artist, and previously held a senior concept role at Amazon Games. His portfolio includes work on large‑scale live‑service titles as well as narrative‑driven projects, making him a versatile addition to Respawn’s creative team.
Team17 announced Sam Duncombe as its new brand marketing manager. Duncombe comes from Warner Bros. Discovery, where he managed product strategy for both games and film properties, and will now steer Team17’s brand initiatives across its diverse portfolio of indie and mid‑tier releases.
Cansu Karahan Can has taken the people‑and‑culture manager role at Loom Games. Prior to this, Can was people‑and‑culture manager at Stoikk (formerly Kompanion), where she oversaw talent acquisition, employee engagement, and organisational development for a fast‑growing tech startup. Christopher Wulf earned a promotion to senior business‑development manager at Fellow Traveler. Wulf joined the company in 2021 after a senior business‑and‑event management position with The Triple‑i Initiative, and will now focus on expanding Fellow Traveler’s B2B partnerships and event‑driven revenue streams.
Julie Derhak has been 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, before moving into tabletop‑gaming production. Alvaro Menéndez steps into the role of international social lead at Mojang Studios.
Menéndez previously worked as senior marketing manager for Epic Games in Madrid, where he led global community campaigns for titles such as Fortnite and Rocket League. Linus Johnsson has been promoted to senior audio designer at Frontier Developments. Johnsson originally joined Frontier in 2022 as a graduate audio designer and has since contributed to the soundscapes of several high‑profile releases, including the Planet Coaster series. After a seven‑year tenure 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 scale of the 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 opportunity to help build what comes next at Paramount was simply too compelling to pass up." Julia Gutnik has taken the helm as head of media at Amazon Gaming.
Gutnik previously led media, social, and analytics for Kia America, and spent over six years within Amazon’s broader entertainment divisions—including Prime Video and Amazon Studios—where she oversaw digital and ad‑tech media strategy. Lorna Antoniazzi joins Studio MDHR as art producer. Antoniazzi’s most recent position was producer at Roarty Digital, where she contributed to Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite assets.
Aysu Kutbay becomes product manager at Grand Games, after a product‑management role at Rollic where she helped launch several successful mobile titles. 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 of business affairs role at Sumo Digital, and now returns to steer licensing for the ever‑expanding Warhammer universes.
Liana Murphy has been appointed account director for US operations at Second Stage. Murphy previously held concurrent COO and head‑of‑public‑relations positions at Vicariously and V Publishing. Tim Coombs is now head of brand marketing for Amazon Luna.
Coombs previously directed brand management at Xbox until July 2026, having joined the console maker in 2020 as senior manager for brand strategy. Earlier, he served as product marketing manager for Amazon Lumberyard in 2017 and later as senior product marketing manager and team lead for Amazon Game Tech until 2020.
Erik Mogensen leaves Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast after three years as senior director of business development for digital gaming. Mogensen’s prior 23‑year stint at Games Workshop culminated in a head‑of‑business‑development and consumer‑product‑licensing role.
"It's not lost on me how special it's been to have worked on, and for, my favourite brands," he reflected. Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as senior producer. Rubin’s background includes senior production work on Netflix mobile titles Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset, as well as five years at Riot Games where he contributed to creative development for the League of Legends IP.
Andrey Odintsov becomes head of marketing at Battlestate Games. Odintsov previously managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and now operates as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for the gaming sector. Dan Lazarides has been appointed chief marketing officer at Frontier Developments. Lazarides previously served as senior vice‑president of marketing at Sega Europe and succeeded Jo Cooke after her promotion to Frontier CEO in January.
Cooke praised the hire, noting that Lazarides’ experience with large IPs will reinforce Frontier’s player‑first strategy. Karen Ionescu takes the role of digital sales manager at Kalypso Media UK.
Ionescu’s résumé includes sales‑manager positions at Numskull Games, Nintendo, and Rising Star Games, giving her a deep understanding of both retail and digital distribution channels. Hannah Barrett has been promoted to senior account executive at esports and gaming communications agency Swipe Right, after joining the firm as an account executive in December 2025. Supercell names Anni Pyy as contract manager. Pyy previously spent four years in the same capacity at Metacore, overseeing contractual negotiations for mobile‑game releases.
Nathan Solbrandt becomes senior vice‑president of business development at fintech platform ZBD. Solbrandt’s earlier experience includes senior account executive duties at Motorica and a vice‑president role for Xsolla’s Americas business‑development team. Olivia Lee joins Riot Games as internal events producer, after serving as associate producer for internal events and programs within the same organisation.
Ciarah Pritchard is appointed account coordinator at Xsolla, having previously worked 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, later becoming associate VP of communications before a 2019 move to Electronic Arts as head of product and studio integrated communications. Maddie Richter becomes social media marketing manager at Nintendo of America.
Richter’s prior role was social media manager at Alaska Airlines, where she honed cross‑platform engagement strategies. Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as a narrative designer, after serving as senior narrative designer at Series Entertainment, where she helped craft storylines for several indie titles.
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, as well as teaching game design, animation, and coding at Submarine Art School and The Code Zone). Steffen Holm and Chris Kruger have joined Roblox’s Foundation AI team to support the Build in New Zealand mobile‑first AI creation tool. The duo co‑founded Jars AI in 2023, raising $3.5 million from Google and other investors, and have spent the past year exploring how AI can empower creators to build novel worlds and narratives.
Sathvik Sudireddy becomes marketing manager, live services at Rockstar Games. Sudireddy previously managed product development for Call of Duty at Activision and completed a business‑development internship at Rockstar earlier in his career. Joe Chard is appointed lead product manager at Netflix Games. Chard’s background includes a six‑year tenure as vice‑president, studio general manager, and head of product at Jam City, as well as senior product roles at The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros.
Entertainment. These appointments, promotions, and departures illustrate the fluid nature of talent movement within the gaming ecosystem, underscoring how studios continually seek fresh perspectives and seasoned expertise to drive innovation and maintain competitive advantage.