Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, departures, and promotions across the video‑game sector can be a daunting task. To make it easier for industry observers, we gather the most noteworthy personnel moves into periodic round‑ups.
If you know of a transition that belongs in this list—whether it’s a new appointment, a promotion, or a departure—please forward the name, new title, new organization, 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 brings a deep background in gaming brand strategy, having spent the previous six years at Microsoft’s Xbox division. He joined Xbox in 2020 as senior manager for brand strategy, was later promoted to director of brand management, and remained there until July 2026. Before his Xbox tenure, Coombs was product marketing manager for Amazon Lumberyard in 2017 and subsequently senior product marketing manager and team lead for Amazon Game Tech, a role he held until April 2020. His blend of experience in both console and cloud‑gaming ecosystems positions him well to steer Luna’s brand narrative as the service continues to expand its library and global reach.
Erik Mogensen has exited Hasbro and its subsidiary Wizards of the Coast after three years as senior director of business development for digital gaming. Mogensen’s career spans more than two decades in the tabletop and hobby‑gaming world; he spent 23 years at Games Workshop, culminating in the role of head of business development and consumer‑product licensing. Reflecting on his time at Hasbro, Mogensen 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 arrives from Netflix, where he oversaw production on two mobile titles—Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset. Prior to his stint at Netflix, he spent five years at Riot Games, contributing to creative development across the League of Legends franchise. His experience bridging live‑service games and mobile experiences should prove valuable as Blizzard continues to diversify its portfolio beyond its core PC 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 operates as an independent consultant specializing in growth and go‑to‑market strategies for video‑game projects.
His expertise in data‑driven acquisition and community building will be instrumental as Battlestate pushes forward with its live‑service titles. 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 succeeds Jo Cooke, who transitioned to Frontier’s chief executive officer position in January. Cooke praised the appointment, 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 in which they play our games.” Karen Ionescu has taken the role of digital sales manager at Kalypso Media UK. Ionescu’s background includes a sales manager position at Numskull Games as well as prior roles at Nintendo and Rising Star Games, giving her a broad perspective on both retail and digital distribution channels. Managing director Andrew Johnson commented, “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 initially joined the firm in December 2025 as an account executive and has quickly demonstrated the client‑relationship skills needed to manage larger, more complex campaigns. Supercell appointed Anni Pyy as contract manager. Pyy’s four‑year tenure at Metacore as contract manager gave her extensive experience negotiating and overseeing publishing agreements, a skill set that aligns with Supercell’s need to manage a growing slate of mobile titles.
Nathan Solbrandt was named senior vice president of business development at fintech platform ZBD. Solbrandt previously 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 regions. Olivia Lee has become internal events producer at Riot Games.
In her prior role, Lee coordinated internal events and programs, fostering a vibrant company culture that supports creativity and collaboration among development teams. Ciarah Pritchard joined Xsolla as an account coordinator after serving as account performance manager at Playback Rewards, where she focused on optimizing client outcomes and revenue streams. Tracey Thompson returned to Bethesda as vice president of communications. Thompson first 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 was appointed social media marketing manager at Nintendo of America. Before joining Nintendo, Richter managed social media for Alaska Airlines, where she honed her ability to craft engaging content for large, diverse audiences.
Dana Duffield joined Yotta Games as a narrative designer. Duffield previously held the senior narrative designer title at Series Entertainment, contributing to story development and world‑building for several indie projects.
Yogscast Games announced three new hires: Charlotte Willis as PR and influencer manager, Robin Mawhinney as production coordinator, and Charlotte Pang as publishing coordinator. Willis comes from Diva Agency, where she served as creator and community director. Mawhinney’s background includes a junior producer role at Atelier 11, while Pang has experience as a 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 joined 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, raising $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 became marketing manager for live services at Rockstar Games.
Sudireddy previously worked as product manager on Call of Duty at Activision and began his career with an internship in business development at the same studio. Joe Chard was named lead product manager at Netflix Games. Chard’s résumé includes a six‑year stint 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.
His extensive product leadership experience is expected to help Netflix expand its gaming ambitions. These appointments, departures, and promotions illustrate the dynamic nature of talent movement within the gaming ecosystem, highlighting how experience across platforms, genres, and even adjacent industries such as fintech and AI continues to shape the future of interactive entertainment.