Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures in the gaming sector can be a daunting task, which is why we regularly assemble concise round‑ups of the most noteworthy personnel moves. If your organization has 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 previous several years at Microsoft’s Xbox division, where he served as director of brand management until July 2026 after joining the console maker in 2020 as senior manager for brand strategy.
Earlier in his career he worked for Amazon’s game‑related services, first as product marketing manager for Amazon Lumberyard in 2017 and later as senior product marketing manager and team lead for Amazon Game Tech, a position he held until April 2020. Erik Mogensen has exited Hasbro and its subsidiary Wizards of the Coast after a three‑year stint 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. "I’m acutely aware of how special it has been to work on, and for, some of my favourite brands," Mogensen reflected.
"From the original Warhammer to the more recent Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Transformers… the list goes on. I’m eager to see what my next chapter holds, wherever it may lead." Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as a senior producer. Rubin’s most recent experience was at Netflix, where he helped launch two mobile titles – Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset – as a senior producer.
Before that, he spent five years at Riot Games, contributing to creative development across the League of Legends franchise. Andrey Odintsov has been appointed head of marketing at Battlestate Games. Odintsov previously oversaw user acquisition at Multicast Games and currently works as an independent consultant focusing on growth and go‑to‑market strategies for video‑game projects.
Dan Lazarides steps into the role of chief marketing officer at Frontier Developments. Lazarides comes from Sega Europe, where he was senior vice president of marketing, and succeeds Jo Cooke, who moved into the CEO position at Frontier earlier this year.
"We’re thrilled to welcome Dan to Frontier. He brings a wealth of experience from some of the industry’s biggest IPs," Cooke said. "His leadership will sustain Frontier’s upward trajectory, and his appointment underscores our commitment to community‑centric development. Dan will be central to our player‑first strategy, ensuring our publishing team champions creativity and celebrates how players engage with our games." Karen Ionescu has taken the post of digital sales manager at Kalypso Media UK.
Ionescu’s background includes a sales manager role at Numskull Games and earlier positions at Nintendo and Rising Star Games. Managing director Andrew Johnson commented, "We’re delighted to have Karen on board. She brings extensive commercial expertise and long‑standing relationships across both retail and digital 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 originally joined the firm in December 2025 as an account executive and has quickly advanced within the organization. Supercell has named Anni Pyy as contract manager. Pyy previously spent four years in the same capacity at Metacore, where she oversaw contractual negotiations and partnership agreements.
Nathan Solbrandt has been appointed senior vice president of business development at fintech platform ZBD. Solbrandt’s prior experience includes senior account executive work at Motorica and a vice‑president role overseeing business development for the Americas at Xsolla.
Olivia Lee becomes internal events producer at Riot Games, building on her earlier position as associate producer for internal events and programs within the company. Ciarah Pritchard joins Xsolla as an account coordinator after serving as account performance manager at Playback Rewards. Tracey Thompson returns 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 led product and studio integrated communications. "I look forward to collaborating with the talented teams at Bethesda and Xbox, supporting the creators behind some of the most iconic entertainment franchises, and helping bring their vision to players worldwide," Thompson said.
Maddie Richter has been hired as social media marketing manager for Nintendo of America. Prior to this, she managed social media for Alaska Airlines, where she honed her expertise 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 development and world‑building for several titles. UK 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, bringing experience as a junior producer at Atelier 11.
Pang takes on the role of publishing coordinator; her background includes production, animation, and art work 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 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. "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 becomes 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 developer. Joe Chard has been appointed 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, as well as senior roles at The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Entertainment. These movements illustrate the dynamic nature of talent circulation within the gaming industry, where seasoned professionals continually shift between major publishers, emerging studios, and cross‑industry tech firms, bringing fresh perspectives and deep expertise to each new challenge.