UK PR and comms mainstay Bastion has opened a North American office, headed by US veteran Rebekah Nicodemus, to serve gaming clients in North America.

Nicodemus previously led accounts including Blizzard Entertainment during her time at Grayling before becoming Head of Product Communications at Amazon Games and later comms lead for Amazon Web Services. Bastion has been a staple of the UK industry since its founding in 1992, and represented Amazon Game Studios for the last six years in the UK, along with managing the account through affiliated agencies outside North America.

Bastion America will be actively recruiting at account manager and account executive levels, Managing Director Ravi Vijh told GamesIndustry.biz. Amazon Games Studios is the firm’s first client and the company has other “live discussions we look forward to revealing soon.”

“As a client, I relied on Bastion to think strategically, solve problems independently and deliver consistently strong results,” Nicodemus said in a press release. “I’m excited to bring the same rigor and excellent service, backed by a powerful global network, to Bastion America clients as we expand our presence in the US.”

“We’ve worked closely with Rebekah while she was at Amazon and know that her drive to achieve is perfectly compatible with the Bastion client-first approach,” said Vijh in the same release. “She has a proven track record working in agencies so she’s a great fit to help drive Bastion America forward.”

The firm said its services would include “strategic counsel, media and influencer relations, social and community engagement, corporate and crisis comms and marketing consultancy.”