Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, departures, and promotions in the video‑game sector can be a real challenge. That’s why we gather the most noteworthy personnel moves into periodic round‑ups for the community. If you know of any new 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 last several years at Xbox, where he was director of brand management until July 2026 after joining the console maker in 2020 as senior manager for brand strategy.
Prior to his Xbox tenure, he helped launch Amazon Lumberyard in 2017 as product marketing manager and later advanced to senior product marketing manager and team lead for Amazon Game Tech, a position he held until April 2020. His deep experience in both console and cloud‑gaming ecosystems positions him well to steer Luna’s brand presence in an increasingly competitive market. Erik Mogensen is exiting Hasbro and its Wizards of the Coast division after three years as senior director of business development for digital gaming. Before his stint at Hasbro, 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 has joined Blizzard Entertainment as a senior producer. Rubin’s recent experience includes senior producer duties at Netflix, where he helped ship two mobile titles—Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset. Earlier in his career he spent five years at Riot Games, contributing to creative development across the League of Legends franchise.
Andrey Odintsov is now head of marketing at Battlestate Games. Odintsov previously managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and currently operates as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for various gaming projects. Dan Lazarides has been appointed chief marketing officer at Frontier Developments.
Lazarides comes from Sega Europe, where he served as senior vice president of marketing. He steps into the CMO role after Jo Cooke moved up to become Frontier’s chief executive officer in January.
Cooke praised the hire: “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 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 role of digital sales manager at Kalypso Media UK. Ionescu previously led sales at Numskull Games and has held positions at Nintendo and Rising Star Games.
Managing director Andrew Johnson welcomed her: “We’re delighted to have Karen on board. 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 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 risen through the ranks. Supercell announced the hiring of Anni Pyy as contract manager. Pyy spent four years in the same capacity at Metacore before moving to the Finnish giant.
Nathan Solbrandt has been named senior vice president of business development at fintech platform ZBD. His background includes senior account executive work at Motorica and a vice‑presidential stint overseeing business development for the Americas at Xsolla. Olivia Lee will serve as internal events producer at Riot Games, having previously worked as an associate producer for internal events and programs within the company. Ciarah Pritchard is now an account coordinator at Xsolla, 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 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 she 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. Before this, she managed social media for Alaska Airlines. Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as a narrative designer, after serving as senior narrative designer at Series Entertainment.
The UK‑based Yogscast Games revealed three new hires: Charlotte Willis, Robin Mawhinney, and Charlotte Pang. Willis becomes PR and influencer manager, bringing experience as creator and community director from Diva Agency. Mawhinney joins as production coordinator after a junior producer role at Atelier 11, while Pang steps in as publishing coordinator, having worked as producer, animator, and artist for Team Gramps and Queensguard, and 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 the interactive AI platform Jars AI in 2023, securing $3.5 million in funding from Google and other investors.
Holm commented, “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. He previously served as product manager on Call of Duty at Activision and began his career with a business‑development internship at the same developer. Joe Chard has been appointed lead product manager at Netflix Games.
Chard’s résumé includes six years as vice president, studio general manager, and head of product at Jam City, as well as senior roles at The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Entertainment.
These moves illustrate the fluid nature of talent within the gaming ecosystem, where seasoned veterans and rising stars alike shift between studios, platforms, and even industries, bringing fresh perspectives and deep expertise to their new homes. The ongoing circulation of leadership and creative talent helps drive innovation, ensures cross‑pollination of ideas, and ultimately benefits players worldwide as companies strive to deliver ever‑more engaging experiences.