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 transitions that belong in this list, please forward the name, new title, new company, as well as the previous role and employer to newhires@gamesindustry.biz.
Tim Coombs has been named head of brand marketing for Amazon Luna. Coombs spent the bulk of the last six years at Microsoft’s Xbox division, where he rose to director of brand management before leaving in July 2026.
He originally joined Xbox in 2020 as senior manager for brand strategy, after a stint at Amazon where he launched the Lumberyard engine in 2017 and later led the Game Tech product marketing team until April 2020. His deep experience in both platform branding and developer outreach makes him a strong fit for steering Luna’s public image and growth initiatives. Erik Mogensen has exited Hasbro and its subsidiary Wizards of the Coast after three years as senior director of business development for digital gaming.
Prior to that, Mogensen devoted 23 years to Games Workshop, culminating in the role of head of business development and consumer‑product licensing. Reflecting on his career, he said, “It’s not lost on me how special it’s been to have worked on, and for, my favourite brands. First Warhammer, and most recently Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Transformers… the list goes on.
I’m very much looking forward to my next chapter, whatever and wherever that may be.” Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as a senior producer. Rubin previously held a senior producer position at Netflix, where he helped ship two mobile titles: Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset.
Before his Netflix tenure, he spent five years at Riot Games, contributing to creative development across the League of Legends franchise. His track record of delivering live‑service experiences should serve Blizzard well as it expands its portfolio of online titles. Andrey Odintsov has been appointed head of marketing at Battlestate Games. Odintsov’s most recent role was user‑acquisition manager at Multicast Games, and he currently works as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for a variety of gaming projects.
His expertise in data‑driven user acquisition strategies is expected to boost Battlestate’s visibility for titles such as Escape from Tarkov. Dan Lazarides steps into the chief marketing officer role at Frontier Developments.
Lazarides previously served as senior vice president of marketing for Sega Europe. He replaces Jo Cooke, who was promoted to CEO of Frontier in January.
Cooke praised the new hire, stating, “We are delighted to welcome Dan to Frontier, who brings a wealth of experience on some of the industry’s largest IPs. His leadership in this genre will continue Frontier’s upward momentum, and his appointment to the role of CMO highlights our focus on our communities. Dan will be at the heart of our player‑first strategy, ensuring our publishing team champions player creativity and celebrates the way they play our games.” Cooke added, “This strategy is paramount to our position as a genre‑leading creative management simulation studio and ensures that we continue to create incredible games.” Karen Ionescu has taken the position of digital sales manager at Kalypso Media UK. Ionescu’s background includes a sales‑manager role at Numskull Games as well as stints at Nintendo and Rising Star Games.
Managing director Andrew Johnson welcomed her, saying, “We’re delighted to welcome Karen to Kalypso Media UK. 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 earned a promotion to senior account executive at esports and gaming communications agency Swipe Right.
Barrett originally joined the firm as an account executive in December 2025 and has quickly demonstrated the client‑management skills that earned her the senior title. Supercell appointed Anni Pyy as contract manager.
Pyy’s prior experience includes four years as contract manager at Metacore, where she oversaw licensing agreements and partnership negotiations for several mobile hits. Nathan Solbrandt has been named senior vice president of business development at fintech platform ZBD.
Before this, Solbrandt worked as a senior account executive at Motorica and served as vice president of business development for the Americas at Xsolla, where he helped expand the company’s payment solutions across multiple markets. Olivia Lee joins Riot Games as internal events producer. Lee previously held the associate producer title for internal events and programs, coordinating large‑scale employee gatherings and community‑focused initiatives.
Ciarah Pritchard takes on the role of account coordinator at Xsolla after serving as account performance manager at Playback Rewards, where she optimized client KPIs and streamlined reporting workflows. 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. She left in 2019 for Electronic Arts, where she headed product and studio integrated communications.
Upon her return, Thompson said, “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 has been appointed social media marketing manager at Nintendo of America. Prior to Nintendo, Richter managed social channels for Alaska Airlines, where she honed her skills in audience engagement and brand storytelling. Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as a narrative designer.
Duffield previously worked as senior narrative designer at Series Entertainment, contributing to story‑craft for several indie titles. The UK‑based publisher Yogscast Games announced three new hires: Charlotte Willis, Robin Mawhinney, and Charlotte Pang.
Willis becomes PR and influencer manager after serving as creator and community director at Diva Agency. Mawhinney joins as production coordinator, having been a junior producer at Atelier 11.
Pang is hired as publishing coordinator; her background includes production, animation, and art roles at 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 been added to Roblox’s Foundation AI team to support the platform’s mobile‑first AI creation tool, Build, in New Zealand.
The duo co‑founded Jars AI in 2023, an interactive AI platform that raised $3.5 million from Google and other investors. Holm remarked, “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 for live services. Sudireddy previously worked as product manager on Call of Duty at Activision after completing a business‑development internship at the same studio.
Joe Chard has been named lead product manager at Netflix Games. Chard’s résumé includes a six‑year tenure as vice president, studio general manager, and head of product at Jam City, plus senior leadership positions at The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Entertainment. These appointments, departures, and promotions illustrate the fluid nature of talent movement within the gaming ecosystem, underscoring how companies continually seek fresh perspectives to drive innovation, community engagement, and market growth.