Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, departures, and role changes across the games sector can be a real challenge. That’s why we gather the most noteworthy personnel shifts into periodic round‑ups for easy reference.
If your organization has newsworthy appointments or transitions, feel free to forward the details—name, new title, new company, as well as prior role and employer—to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. Nate Nanzer is moving on from 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 climbed the ladder, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Partnerships and Monetisation, where he oversaw major revenue‑generating initiatives and strategic alliances. "The scale of the ambition and vision here for what's next is incredibly exciting," Nanzer remarked. "My career has always sat at the crossroads of games, entertainment, and fandom, and the chance to help shape the future at Paramount was simply too compelling to ignore." He also expressed gratitude to his former colleagues, saying, "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.
Prior to this role, she led media, social, and analytics for Kia America and spent more than six years within Amazon's own ecosystem, holding senior positions at Prime Video and Amazon Studios as head of digital and ad‑tech media. "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 said, underscoring her excitement about re‑entering the gaming arena.
Lorna Antoniazzi joins Studio MDHR as Art Producer. She previously worked as a producer at Roarty Digital, contributing to high‑profile projects such as Fortnite Battle Royale and the Lego Fortnite collaboration, bringing valuable experience in large‑scale live‑service environments. Aysu Kutbay steps into the role of Product Manager at Grand Games, after serving in the same capacity at Rollic, where she helped launch several successful mobile titles and refined her expertise in user acquisition and product lifecycle management. David Bailey returns to Games Workshop, this time as Lead Commercial Manager – Licensing.
Bailey originally joined the company in 2019 as Senior Licensing Manager, left in 2021 for a director role at Sumo Digital, and now comes back to help steer licensing for the ever‑expansive Warhammer universes. "It's a privilege to return to the vast and evergreen Warhammer universes to help spearhead new business for licensing here," he commented. "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. Her most recent dual role was COO and Head of Public Relations at Vicariously and V Publishing, where she oversaw agency growth and high‑visibility campaigns.
Tim Coombs takes the helm as Head of Brand Marketing for Amazon Luna. Before this, he spent six years at Xbox, most recently as Director of Brand Management, after joining the division in 2020 as Senior Manager for Brand Strategy. Coombs also held product marketing leadership positions for Amazon Lumberyard and Amazon Game Tech, giving him a deep background in both developer tools and consumer‑facing gaming services.
Erik Mogensen departs 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, 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 reflected, naming Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, and Transformers as highlights. He hinted at new opportunities on the horizon. Ryan Rubin joins Blizzard Entertainment as Senior Producer. Rubin previously led senior production on two Netflix mobile games—Squid Game: Unleashed and Selling Sunset—and spent five years at Riot Games, contributing to creative development across the League of Legends IP.
Andrey Odintsov becomes Head of Marketing at Battlestate Games. He brings experience from Multicast Games, where he managed user acquisition, and currently works as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for various gaming projects. Dan Lazarides is appointed Chief Marketing Officer at Frontier Developments, succeeding Jo Cooke, who moved into the CEO role earlier this year. Lazarides previously served as Senior Vice President of Marketing at Sega Europe.
Frontier CEO Jo Cooke praised his arrival: "We are delighted to welcome Dan to Frontier, who brings a wealth of experience on some of the industry's largest IPs. His leadership will continue Frontier's upward momentum and reinforce our player‑first strategy." Karen Ionescu takes on the role of Digital Sales Manager at Kalypso Media UK. Her background includes sales leadership at Numskull Games, as well as positions at Nintendo and Rising Star Games. Managing Director Andrew Johnson highlighted her extensive retail and digital channel relationships as a key asset.
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 becomes Senior Vice President 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 joins Riot Games as Internal Events Producer, building on her prior experience as Associate Producer for internal events and programs. Ciarah Pritchard is now Account Coordinator at Xsolla, 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, rose to Associate VP of Communications, left for EA in 2019, and now looks forward to supporting iconic franchises across Bethesda and Xbox. Maddie Richter steps into the role of Social Media Marketing Manager at Nintendo of America, bringing previous experience as Social Media Manager for Alaska Airlines. Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as Narrative Designer, after a senior narrative design stint 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 (previous junior producer at Atelier 11), and Charlotte Pang as Publishing Coordinator (with a background in production, animation, and teaching game design at Submarine Art School and The Code Zone). Steffen Holm and Chris Kruger join Roblox's Foundation AI team to advance 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, and aim to push the boundaries of AI‑driven entertainment.
Sathvik Sudireddy becomes Marketing Manager, Live Services at Rockstar Games, 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, bringing former experience as Vice President, Studio General Manager, and Head of Product at Jam City, as well as senior roles at Disney and Warner Bros.