Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures across the gaming sector can be a daunting task. To make it easier for industry observers and professionals, we publish periodic round‑ups that capture the most noteworthy personnel moves.
If your organization has recent staffing changes that belong in this list, please forward the name, new title, company, and previous position 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 held the role of director of brand management until July 2026. He originally joined Xbox in 2020 as senior manager for brand strategy, climbing the ladder through a series of brand‑focused positions.
Prior to his Xbox tenure, Coombs worked for Amazon’s game‑related services: he was product marketing manager for Amazon Lumberyard beginning in 2017, later advancing to 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. Before joining 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, 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 is now a senior producer at Blizzard Entertainment.
Rubin’s recent experience includes a senior producer role 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 has taken the helm of marketing at Battlestate Games. Odintsov previously managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and currently operates as an independent consultant specializing in growth and go‑to‑market strategies for video‑game projects.
Dan Lazarides has been appointed chief marketing officer at Frontier Developments. Before joining Frontier, Lazarides served as senior vice president of marketing for Sega Europe.
He steps into the CMO role following Jo Cooke’s promotion to CEO earlier this year. 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 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. 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 been named digital sales manager for Kalypso Media UK. Ionescu’s background includes a sales‑manager role at Numskull Games as well as positions at Nintendo and Rising Star Games.
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 originally joined the firm as an account executive in December 2025 and has since demonstrated the client‑service acumen that warranted her elevation. Supercell has brought Anni Pyy on board as contract manager.
Pyy’s prior experience includes four years as contract manager at Metacore, where she oversaw licensing agreements and partnership contracts for mobile titles. Nathan Solbrandt has been installed as senior vice president of business development at fintech platform ZBD. Solbrandt’s résumé includes a senior account executive stint at Motorica and a vice‑presidential role overseeing business development for the Americas at Xsolla.
Olivia Lee is now internal events producer at Riot Games, having previously served as associate producer for internal events and programs. In her new capacity, Lee will coordinate large‑scale employee gatherings, hackathons, and community‑building initiatives across Riot’s global studios. Ciarah Pritchard has taken the position of account coordinator at Xsolla. Before joining Xsolla, Pritchard worked as an account performance manager at Playback Rewards, where she optimized client campaigns and reporting processes.
Tracey Thompson has returned to Bethesda as vice president of communications. Thompson’s history with Bethesda dates back to 2009 when she joined as director of publications, later advancing to associate VP of communications. She left the studio in 2019 for Electronic Arts, where she led 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 become social media marketing manager for Nintendo of America. Richter previously managed social media for Alaska Airlines, where she crafted campaigns that boosted engagement and brand awareness.
Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as a narrative designer. Duffield’s most recent role was senior narrative designer at Series Entertainment, where she helped shape storylines for several indie titles. UK publisher Yogscast Games announced three new hires: Charlotte Willis, Robin Mawhinney, and Charlotte Pang.
Willis will serve as PR and influencer manager, bringing experience from Diva Agency where she acted as creator and community director. Mawhinney joins as production coordinator after a junior producer role at Atelier 11, while Pang steps in as publishing coordinator. Pang’s 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 AI interactive platform Jars AI in 2023 and secured $3.5 million in funding 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 has taken on the role of marketing manager for live services at Rockstar Games.
Sudireddy previously worked as product manager on Call of Duty at Activision and completed an internship in business development at the same developer. Joe Chard is now lead product manager at Netflix Games. Before this appointment, Chard spent six years at Jam City, where they held titles including vice president, studio general manager, and head of product.
Their career also includes senior positions in gaming at The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Entertainment.
These appointments, departures, and promotions illustrate the fluid nature of talent movement within the interactive entertainment industry, highlighting how experience across platforms, genres, and business functions continues to shape the sector’s evolving landscape.