Keeping up with the constant flow of appointments, departures, and role changes in the video‑game sector can be a daunting task. To make life easier for readers, we regularly compile these personnel shifts into concise round‑ups. If you know of any noteworthy hires or transitions that belong in this list, please forward the individual's name, new title, new company, as well as their previous role and employer to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. Nate Nanzer has departed 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 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 at Amazon Gaming.
Before joining Amazon, she led media, social, and analytics for Kia America and spent more than six years at Prime Video and Amazon Studios, where she oversaw 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," Gutnik explained.
Lorna Antoniazzi joins Studio MDHR as Art Producer. Antoniazzi previously worked as a producer at Roarty Digital, contributing to high‑profile titles such as Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite, where she honed her skills in visual direction and asset coordination. Aysu Kutbay is now Product Manager at Grand Games, after serving in the same capacity at Rollic.
Her experience in mobile‑first product pipelines and user‑acquisition strategy is expected to bolster Grand Games' upcoming releases. David Bailey has returned to Games Workshop, taking the role of Lead Commercial Manager – Licensing. Bailey first arrived at 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 the Warhammer franchise's licensing initiatives.
"It's a privilege to return to the vast and evergreen Warhammer universes to help spearhead new business for licensing here," he remarked. "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. Prior to this, Murphy simultaneously held the COO role and led public relations at Vicariously and V Publishing, giving her a blend of operational and communications expertise. 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, having joined the console maker in 2020 as Senior Manager for Brand Strategy. Earlier in his career, Coombs 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.
Erik Mogensen departs Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast after three years as Senior Director of Business Development for Digital Gaming. Before that, he spent 23 years at Games Workshop, culminating 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," Mogensen said. "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's previous experience includes senior production roles at Netflix, where he helped ship mobile titles such as Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset, as well as a five‑year stint at Riot Games working on creative development for the League of Legends IP.
Andrey Odintsov has been appointed Head of Marketing at Battlestate Games. Prior to this, he managed user acquisition at Multicast Games and currently operates as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for various gaming projects.
Dan Lazarides takes the helm as Chief Marketing Officer at Frontier Developments. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Marketing at Sega Europe and succeeded Jo Cooke after her promotion to CEO in January.
Cooke praised the appointment, noting that Lazarides brings deep experience with major IPs and will drive Frontier's "player‑first" strategy, ensuring the publishing team champions community creativity. Karen Ionescu becomes Digital Sales Manager at Kalypso Media UK.
Ionescu's background includes sales leadership at Numskull Games, as well as roles at Nintendo and Rising Star Games. Managing Director Andrew Johnson welcomed her, highlighting her extensive retail and digital channel relationships. 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 held the same title at Metacore for four years, overseeing licensing agreements and partnership contracts. Nathan Solbrandt steps into the role of Senior Vice President of Business Development at fintech platform ZBD.
His prior positions include 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 where she coordinated internal programs and employee‑focused events. Ciarah Pritchard joins Xsolla as Account Coordinator, after serving 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 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 honed cross‑platform community engagement tactics. Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as Narrative Designer, after serving as Senior Narrative Designer at Series Entertainment, where she crafted story arcs for multiple 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 (previously Junior Producer at Atelier 11), and Charlotte Pang as Publishing Coordinator (with a background as Producer, Animator, and Artist for Team Gramps and Queensguard, and teaching experience 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, securing $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 joins Rockstar Games as Marketing Manager for Live Services. He previously worked as Product Manager on Call of Duty at Activision after completing a business‑development internship at Rockstar. Joe Chard is named 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 product roles at The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Entertainment. These moves illustrate the dynamic nature of talent flow within the gaming ecosystem, where seasoned veterans and emerging leaders alike continue to shape the industry's future across development, publishing, marketing, and technology domains.