Key points:
- Nathan Drane has been appointed as enterprise-wide CPO for Light & Wonder
- Drane has been in the industry since 2009, with over a decade's experience with Aristocrat
Light & Wonder has promoted Nathan Drane to Chief Product Officer (CPO). The former CPO of Gaming has been with the company since early 2021, with over a decade of experience under his belt from two other major suppliers.
Drane’s first notable role in the gaming industry was in 2009, when he was appointed as a marketing graduate by Aristocrat. Over a 12-year tenure with the supplier, Drane climbed up the ranks to Marketing Manager for Asia Pacific, Senior Manager Product Strategy for ANZ & Asia Pacific and eventually VP, Commercial Strategy, Games Sales, before leaving Aristocrat in February 2021.
His next role saw him take on the position of VP, Global Sale Games at Scientific Games; a role he held for just six months for being promoted to SVP, Global Product Management. However, his time with Scientific Games was relatively short, being there for just over a year before becoming part of Light & Wonder.
Drane came to Light & Wonder in March 2022, continuing the same role he had with Scientific Games. However, after almost two years, he was promoted to CPO of Gaming.
Now, as enterprise-wide CPO, Drane will be responsible for leading a department to which covers all game creation across the Light & Wonder business. Former CPO Rich Schneider will remain with Light & Wonder as a Senior Advisor.
Good to know: In January, Light & Wonder announced its entry into the regulated Brazilian market
On his appointment, Light & Wonder President and CEO Matt Wilson said: “I’ve personally worked with Nathan for many years, and I couldn’t be happier for him to share his leadership and vision with the entire enterprise. He has already been working with many across the business on our cross-platform strategy and has a clear and aggressive content roadmap that will ensure our continued success, positioning us for growth in the near and long term.”
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to take on this role with the Company,” Drane added. “This new centralised content organisation formalises our global strategy of building the world’s best games in every market on every intended platform. It provides us an opportunity to make data-driven development and roadmap decisions, gives us new opportunities to grow talent, and drives efficiencies throughout the game-creation process.”
Drane’s promotion comes shortly after the appointment of Simon Johnson as iGaming CEO. He too acquired the role following several years with the company, having originally joined in 2017 as Scientific Games Group Commercial Director and later Light & Wonder SVP & Managing Director, EMEA.
