Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, promotions, and departures in the games sector can be a real challenge, which is why we gather the most noteworthy changes in periodic round‑ups. If you know of any recent appointments or role changes that belong in this list, please forward the name, new position, new company, and previous role and employer to newhires@gamesindustry.biz.
Nate Nanzer has departed Epic Games after a seven‑year tenure to take on the role of Executive Vice President and Head of Commercial & Marketing at Paramount Games. During his time at Epic, Nanzer held several senior posts, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Partnerships and Monetisation. "The scale of the ambition and vision here for what's next is incredibly exciting," Nanzer said.
"I've spent my career at the intersection of games, entertainment, and fandom, and the opportunity to help build what comes next at Paramount was simply too compelling to pass up." He added, "I'm deeply grateful to everyone at Epic and to all of the partners I've had the opportunity to work with along the way. I'll always be proud of what we accomplished together and will be cheering the team on from the sidelines." Julia Gutnik has been named Head of Media for Amazon Gaming. Prior to this, she led media, social and analytics at Kia America and spent more than six years at Prime Video and Amazon Studios, where she oversaw digital and ad‑tech media functions.
"After two years navigating the auto industry, I am returning to my entertainment roots, and to the place that shaped me into a global marketing leader," Gutnik explained. Lorna Antoniazzi joins Studio MDHR as Art Producer. She previously worked as a producer at Roarty Digital, contributing to titles such as Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite.
Aysu Kutbay is now Product Manager at Grand Games, coming from a similar role at Rollic. David Bailey returns to Games Workshop as Lead Commercial Manager – Licensing. Bailey first joined Games Workshop in 2019 as Senior Licensing Manager, left in 2021 to become Director of Business Affairs at Sumo Digital, and now says, "It's a privilege to return to the vast and evergreen Warhammer universes to help spearhead new business for licensing here. It's an incredible opportunity and it's great to be back in the fold working alongside great people." Liana Murphy has been appointed Account Director for US Operations at Second Stage.
Before this, she simultaneously held the COO and Head of Public Relations positions at Vicariously and V Publishing. Tim Coombs steps into the role of Head of Brand Marketing for Amazon Luna. He previously served as Director of Brand Management at Xbox until July 2026, after joining the console maker in 2020 as Senior Manager for Brand Strategy.
Earlier in his career he was Product Marketing Manager for Amazon Lumberyard (2017) and later Senior Product Marketing Manager and Team Lead for Amazon Game Tech until April 2020. Erik Mogensen exits Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast after three years as Senior Director of Business Development for Digital Gaming. Prior to that, he spent 23 years at Games Workshop, most recently as 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," he reflected. "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 Senior Producer. Rubin previously held a senior producer role at Netflix, where he helped ship two mobile titles – Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset – and spent five years at Riot Games working on creative development for the League of Legends franchise. Andrey Odintsov is appointed Head of Marketing at Battlestate Games.
He formerly worked as User Acquisition Manager at Multicast Games and currently operates as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for game studios. Dan Lazarides becomes Chief Marketing Officer at Frontier Developments, succeeding Jo Cooke, who moved into the CEO position in January.
Lazarides previously served as Senior Vice President of Marketing at Sega Europe. Frontier CEO Jo Cooke praised the hire, stating, "We are delighted to welcome Dan to Frontier, who brings a wealth of experience on some of the industry's largest IP.
His leadership will continue our upward momentum and reinforce our player‑first strategy, ensuring our publishing team champions player creativity and celebrates the way they engage with our games." Karen Ionescu takes the role of Digital Sales Manager at Kalypso Media UK. She comes from a Sales Manager position at Numskull Games and has held roles at Nintendo and Rising Star Games. Managing Director Andrew Johnson said, "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, after joining as an Account Executive in December 2025.
Supercell appoints Anni Pyy as Contract Manager; Pyy previously spent four years in the same capacity at Metacore. Nathan Solbrandt is named SVP of Business Development at fintech platform ZBD, after roles as Senior Account Executive at Motorica and Vice President of Business Development for the Americas at Xsolla.
Olivia Lee becomes Internal Events Producer at Riot Games, moving up from Associate Producer for internal events and programs. Ciarah Pritchard joins Xsolla as Account Coordinator, having previously worked 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, left in 2019 for EA, and now says, "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 is appointed Social Media Marketing Manager at Nintendo of America, after serving as Social Media Manager for Alaska Airlines.
Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as Narrative Designer, coming from a Senior Narrative Designer role at Series Entertainment. Yogscast Games announces three new hires: Charlotte Willis as PR and Influencer Manager (formerly Creator and Community Director at Diva Agency), Robin Mawhinney as Production Coordinator (previously Junior Producer at Atelier 11), and Charlotte Pang as Publishing Coordinator (former producer, animator and artist for Team Gramps and Queensguard, and former instructor 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 mobile‑first AI creation tool Build in New Zealand.
The duo co‑founded 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 joins Rockstar Games as Marketing Manager for Live Services, after serving as Product Manager on Call of Duty at Activision and completing a business‑development internship at the studio. Joe Chard is appointed Lead Product Manager at Netflix Games, following 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.