Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures across the video‑game sector can be a real challenge. That’s why we publish periodic round‑ups that capture the most noteworthy personnel moves. If you know of a transition that belongs in this list—whether it’s a new appointment, a promotion, or an exit—please forward the name, new title, new company, and previous role to newhires@gamesindustry.biz.
Tim Coombs has been named head of brand marketing for Amazon Luna. Coombs spent the last six years at Microsoft’s Xbox division, where he rose from senior manager of brand strategy (2020) to director of brand management before leaving in July 2026. Earlier in his career he helped launch Amazon’s Lumberyard engine in 2017 as product marketing manager, later advancing to senior product marketing manager and team lead for Amazon Game Tech until April 2020. His blend of console‑branding expertise and deep familiarity with Amazon’s game‑tech ecosystem makes him a natural fit to steer Luna’s brand forward.
Erik Mogensen is exiting 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.
"It’s not lost on me how special it’s been to have worked on, and for, my favourite brands," Mogensen reflected. "From the first Warhammer titles to recent work on 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 previously held a senior producer role at Netflix, where he helped ship two mobile titles—Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset.
Before 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 serve Blizzard’s expanding portfolio of cross‑platform projects. Andrey Odintsov is now head of marketing at Battlestate Games.
Odintsov’s most recent position was user‑acquisition manager at Multicast Games, and he currently operates as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for a variety of titles. His data‑driven approach to player acquisition is expected to boost Battlestate’s reach, especially for its flagship titles.
Dan Lazarides has been appointed chief marketing officer at Frontier Developments. Lazarides arrives from Sega Europe, where he was senior vice president of marketing.
He succeeds Jo Cooke, who moved into the CEO role at Frontier in January. "We are delighted to welcome Dan to Frontier, who brings a wealth of experience on some of the industry’s largest IPs," said Cooke. "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." Karen Ionescu takes the reins as digital sales manager at Kalypso Media UK.
Ionescu previously led sales at Numskull Games and has held roles at Nintendo and Rising Star Games. Managing director Andrew Johnson praised the hire: "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 has been promoted to senior account executive at esports and gaming communications agency Swipe Right.
Barrett joined the firm as an account executive in December 2025 and quickly proved her ability to manage high‑profile esports clients and brand partnerships. Supercell has named Anni Pyy as contract manager. Pyy spent four years overseeing contracts at Metacore, where she managed licensing agreements and partnership negotiations for several mobile hits. Nathan Solbrandt steps into the role of senior vice president of business development at fintech platform ZBD.
Solbrandt’s background includes senior account executive work at Motorica and a vice‑president stint overseeing Americas‑region business development at Xsolla. Olivia Lee becomes internal events producer at Riot Games.
Previously an associate producer for internal events and programs, Lee will now coordinate larger-scale employee gatherings, culture‑building initiatives, and cross‑studio workshops. Ciarah Pritchard joins Xsolla as an account coordinator after serving as account performance manager at Playback Rewards, where she optimized client reporting and revenue tracking. 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. After a decade‑long tenure, she left in 2019 for Electronic Arts, where she headed product and studio integrated communications. "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," Thompson said. 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 crafted travel‑focused campaigns that drove engagement across Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as a narrative designer.
Duffield previously served as senior narrative designer at Series Entertainment, contributing to story‑craft for several indie adventure titles. The UK publisher Yogscast Games announced three new hires: Charlotte Willis, Robin Mawhinney, and Charlotte Pang. Willis becomes PR and influencer manager after working at Diva Agency as creator and community director.
Mawhinney joins as production coordinator, having been a junior producer at Atelier 11, while Pang steps in as publishing coordinator after experience as producer, animator, and artist for Team Gramps and Queensguard, plus 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 AI interactive platform Jars AI in 2023 and raised $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 explained.
Sathvik Sudireddy joins Rockstar Games as marketing manager for live services. Sudireddy previously worked as a product manager on Call of Duty at Activision, following an internship in business development at the same studio. Joe Chard has been appointed lead product manager at Netflix Games. Chard brings a wealth of experience, having served as vice president, studio general manager, and head of product at Jam City for six years, as well as senior roles at The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros.
Entertainment. These appointments, promotions, and departures illustrate the dynamic nature of the gaming industry, where talent moves rapidly between studios, platforms, and related tech sectors. Each new hire brings a unique blend of experience that will shape the future of their respective companies and the games they help create.