Keeping up with the constant flow of hires, departures, and role changes across the gaming sector can be a real challenge, which is why we publish periodic round‑ups that capture the most noteworthy movements. If you know of any appointments 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 announced his departure 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 held several senior responsibilities, 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." In other news, Julia Gutnik has been appointed Head of Media at Amazon Gaming. Gutnik previously led media, social, and analytics for Kia America, and before that she 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," Gutnik explained. Lorna Antoniazzi joins Studio MDHR as an Art Producer. She comes from Roarty Digital, where she produced work on high‑profile titles such as Fortnite Battle Royale and the Lego Fortnite collaboration. Aysu Kutbay has taken on the role of Product Manager at Grand Games, after previously serving in the same capacity at Rollic.
David Bailey is back at 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 returns to help steer licensing initiatives across the Warhammer portfolio. "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 named Account Director for U.S. operations at Second Stage. Prior to this, she simultaneously held the COO post and led public relations at Vicariously and V Publishing.
Tim Coombs steps into the role of Head of Brand Marketing for Amazon Luna. Coombs previously worked at Xbox, where he served as Director of Brand Management until July 2026 after joining the division in 2020 as Senior Manager for Brand Strategy.
His earlier Amazon experience includes a stint as Product Marketing Manager for Amazon Lumberyard in 2017, followed by senior product marketing leadership for Amazon Game Tech until April 2020. Erik Mogensen has exited 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, 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 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 has been appointed Head of Marketing at Battlestate Games.
His background includes a user‑acquisition manager position at Multicast Games and current work as an independent growth and go‑to‑market consultant for game studios. Dan Lazarides is the new Chief Marketing Officer at Frontier Developments, succeeding Jo Cooke after she moved into the CEO seat in January.
Lazarides previously served as Senior Vice President of Marketing for Sega Europe. Frontier CEO Jo Cooke praised the hire, noting that Lazarides brings extensive experience with major IPs and will drive the studio's player‑first strategy, championing community‑driven creativity. Karen Ionescu becomes Digital Sales Manager for Kalypso Media UK.
Ionescu's résumé includes sales leadership at Numskull Games as well as roles at Nintendo and Rising Star Games. Managing Director Andrew Johnson highlighted her strong relationships across both retail and digital distribution channels. 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 takes on the role of Senior Vice President of Business Development at fintech platform ZBD. He formerly worked as Senior Account Executive at Motorica and was Vice President of Business Development for the Americas at Xsolla.
Olivia Lee becomes Internal Events Producer at Riot Games, moving up from an Associate Producer role focused on internal programs and 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 in 2019 for EA, where she led product and studio integrated communications. 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 is named Social Media Marketing Manager for Nintendo of America, transitioning from a Social Media Manager role at Alaska Airlines. Dana Duffield joins Yotta Games as a Narrative Designer, after serving as Senior Narrative Designer 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 past experience as producer, animator, and artist for Team Gramps and Queensguard, plus teaching stints at Submarine Art School and The Code Zone). Steffen Holm and Chris Kruger have been added to Roblox's Foundation AI team to bolster the mobile‑first AI creation tool Build in New Zealand. The duo co‑founded Jars AI, an interactive AI platform, in 2023 and secured $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, after previously managing product responsibilities on Call of Duty at Activision and completing a business‑development internship at Rockstar.
Joe Chard becomes Lead Product Manager at Netflix Games. Chard's prior experience includes a six‑year tenure 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. These moves illustrate the dynamic nature of talent flow within the interactive entertainment industry, where seasoned professionals continually seek fresh challenges and companies strive to attract top expertise to drive innovation and growth.