Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, departures, and role changes across the games sector can be a daunting task. That’s why we publish regular round‑ups that gather the most noteworthy personnel shifts in one place. If your organization has recent appointments or transitions that belong in this list, please forward the name, new title, company, and the individual’s previous role and employer to newhires@gamesindustry.biz.
Nate Nanzer is departing Epic Games after a seven‑year tenure to assume the position of Executive Vice President, Head of Commercial & Marketing at Paramount Games. During his time at Epic, Nanzer held several senior responsibilities, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Partnerships and Monetisation, where he oversaw the company’s global partnership strategy and revenue‑generation initiatives. "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 a note of gratitude toward his former colleagues: "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 role, Gutnik led media, social, and analytics at Kia America and spent more than six years at Prime Video and Amazon Studios, where she headed digital and ad‑tech media operations.
"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," she remarked, emphasizing her enthusiasm for re‑engaging with the gaming community under Amazon's banner. Lorna Antoniazzi joins Studio MDHR as Art Producer. Antoniazzi previously worked as a producer at Roarty Digital, contributing to high‑profile projects such as Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite, where she honed her skills in coordinating art pipelines and managing cross‑functional creative teams.
Aysu Kutbay steps into the role of Product Manager at Grand Games, bringing experience from her former position as product manager at Rollic, where she helped launch and iterate on a portfolio of mobile titles that achieved strong user acquisition and retention metrics. David Bailey returns to Games Workshop as Lead Commercial Manager – Licensing. Bailey originally joined Games Workshop in 2019 as Senior Licensing Manager, left in 2021 to become Director of Business Affairs at Sumo Digital, and now comes back to help steer licensing initiatives across the expansive Warhammer universe.
"It's a privilege to return to the vast and evergreen Warhammer universes to help spearhead new business for licensing here," Bailey said. "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 U.S. Operations at Second Stage.
Murphy most recently held dual roles as COO and Head of Public Relations at Vicariously and V Publishing, where she oversaw operational strategy and media outreach for a range of indie and mid‑size developers. Tim Coombs takes the helm as Head of Brand Marketing for Amazon Luna. Coombs previously served as Director of Brand Management at Xbox until July 2026, after joining the console giant in 2020 as Senior Manager for Brand Strategy.
Earlier in his career he was Product Marketing Manager for Amazon Lumberyard in 2017 and later Senior Product Marketing Manager and Team Lead for Amazon Game Tech until April 2020, giving him a deep background in both cloud‑based game development tools and consumer‑facing brand work. Erik Mogensen exits Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast after three years as Senior Director of Business Development for Digital Gaming. Prior to that, Mogensen spent 23 years at 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," 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 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. He also spent five years at Riot Games, contributing to creative development across the League of Legends intellectual property. Andrey Odintsov has been appointed Head of Marketing at Battlestate Games. Before this, he worked as User Acquisition Manager at Multicast Games and currently operates as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for various gaming projects.
Dan Lazarides becomes Chief Marketing Officer at Frontier Developments, succeeding Jo Cooke, who moved into the CEO role in January. Lazarides previously served as Senior Vice President of Marketing at Sega Europe.
Frontier CEO Jo Cooke praised the appointment, noting that Lazarides brings extensive experience with large‑scale IPs and will drive the studio’s "player‑first" strategy, ensuring that publishing teams champion community creativity. Karen Ionescu takes on the role of Digital Sales Manager at Kalypso Media UK. Ionescu’s background includes sales leadership at Numskull Games, as well as positions at Nintendo and Rising Star Games. Managing Director Andrew Johnson highlighted her strong retail and digital channel relationships as a key asset for Kalypso.
Hannah Barrett has been promoted to Senior Account Executive at esports and gaming communications agency Swipe Right, after joining the firm 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, where she managed legal and partnership agreements for mobile titles. Nathan Solbrandt is named Senior Vice President of Business Development at fintech platform ZBD.
His prior experience includes senior account executive work at Motorica and a Vice President role in Business Development for the Americas at Xsolla. Olivia Lee becomes Internal Events Producer at Riot Games, moving up from an Associate Producer role where she coordinated internal programs and employee engagement events.
Ciarah Pritchard joins Xsolla as Account Coordinator after serving as Account Performance Manager at Playback Rewards, where she focused on optimizing publisher revenue streams. 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 before leaving for Electronic Arts in 2019.
She 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 is appointed Social Media Marketing Manager at Nintendo of America, transitioning from a Social Media Manager role at Alaska Airlines where she led consumer engagement campaigns. Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as Narrative Designer, after serving as Senior Narrative Designer at Series Entertainment, where she crafted storylines for several indie titles. 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 (formerly Junior Producer at Atelier 11), and Charlotte Pang as Publishing Coordinator (previously Producer, Animator, and Artist for Team Gramps and Queensguard, and an instructor at Submarine Art School and The Code Zone). Steffen Holm and Chris Kruger become part of Roblox’s Foundation AI team, focusing on 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 to develop interactive AI platforms for creators. Sathvik Sudireddy joins Rockstar Games as Marketing Manager for Live Services, after product management work on Call of Duty at Activision and an internship in business development at Rockstar.
Joe Chard is appointed Lead Product Manager at Netflix Games. Chard previously held senior leadership roles at Jam City—including Vice President, Studio General Manager, and Head of Product—for six years, and has also held senior positions at The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Entertainment.
These appointments, promotions, and departures reflect the dynamic nature of the gaming industry, where talent moves rapidly between studios, publishers, and tech platforms, continually reshaping the creative and commercial landscape.