Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, departures, and promotions across the games sector can be a daunting task. That’s why we gather the most noteworthy personnel changes into periodic round‑ups for the community. If you know of any recent appointments or role changes that belong in this list, please forward the name, new title, new company, and previous position to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. Nate Nanzer is departing Epic Games after a seven‑year tenure to assume the role of Executive Vice President, Head of Commercial & Marketing at Paramount Games.
At Epic, Nanzer spent several years climbing the ladder, most recently holding the title of 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 a note of gratitude to 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, she led media, social, and analytics at Kia America and spent over six years at Prime Video and Amazon Studios, where she oversaw digital and ad‑tech media initiatives. "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 an Art Producer. She previously worked as a producer at Roarty Digital, contributing to titles such as Fortnite Battle Royale and Lego Fortnite. Aysu Kutbay takes on the Product Manager role at Grand Games, after serving as a product manager at Rollic where she helped launch several successful mobile titles. David Bailey is back at Games Workshop, this time as Lead Commercial Manager – Licensing.
Bailey originally entered Games Workshop in 2019 as Senior Licensing Manager, left in 2021 to become Director of Business Affairs at Sumo Digital, and now returns to the Warhammer universe. "It's a privilege to return to the vast and evergreen Warhammer universes to help spearhead new business for licensing here," he 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 US Operations at Second Stage. She most recently held a dual role as COO and Head of Public Relations at Vicariously and V Publishing. Tim Coombs steps into the Head of Brand Marketing position for Amazon Luna.
Before this, Coombs was Director of Brand Management at Xbox until July 2026, having joined the console maker in 2020 as Senior Manager for Brand Strategy. His earlier Amazon experience includes Product Marketing Manager for Amazon Lumberyard in 2017 and Senior Product Marketing Manager 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," Mogensen 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 produced two shipped mobile titles for Netflix—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 has been appointed Head of Marketing at Battlestate Games.
He formerly served as User Acquisition Manager at Multicast Games and currently operates as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for the gaming sector. Dan Lazarides becomes Chief Marketing Officer at Frontier Developments, succeeding Jo Cooke after her promotion to CEO in January. Lazarides previously held the Senior Vice President of Marketing role at Sega Europe. Frontier CEO Jo Cooke praised the hire: "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 underscores our focus on community‑first publishing." Karen Ionescu is now Digital Sales Manager at Kalypso Media UK. Ionescu brings experience from Numskull Games, 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 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 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 named 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 as Director of Publications, later becoming Associate VP of Communications, before leaving in 2019 for EA. She 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 takes the role of Social Media Marketing Manager at Nintendo of America, after a stint as Social Media Manager at Alaska Airlines. Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as a Narrative Designer, following a senior narrative design position 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 (with past experience as Producer, Animator, and Artist for Team Gramps and Queensguard, and as an instructor at Submarine Art School and The Code Zone). Steffen Holm and Chris Kruger have joined 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 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, having previously served as Vice President, Studio General Manager, and Head of Product at Jam City for six years, as well as senior roles at The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Entertainment.