Light & Wonder Promotes from Within, Names Nathan Drane CPO

Light & Wonder, an American leader in the provision of gambling products and services, announced that it has enhanced its leadership with the appointment of a new C-suite member. The company clarified that long-term member Nathan Drane will assume the role of chief product officer and oversee the B2B company’s pipeline.

The appointment comes a month after Light & Wonder named insider Simon Johnson as CEO of its iGaming division.

The New CPO Boasts 15+ Years in Gaming

Drane originally joined Scientific Games in 2021, prior to its rebranding as Light & Wonder. Initially, he served as vice president of global sale for the games division before being quickly promoted to senior vice president of global product management.

Drane retained the latter role as Scientific Games rebranded to Light & Wonder in 2022. In January 2024, Drane was promoted to chief product officer of the gaming business – a position that he held for over a year.

As CPO of Light & Wonder, Drane will continue to support the business from its office in Las Vegas, Nevada, ensuring that its products maintain its edge. In his expanded role as enterprise-wide CPO, he will be responsible for all game creation across Light & Wonder under one department.

Prior to joining the Light & Wonder team, the appointee worked for competitor Aristocrat. Having joined the Australian product provider in 2009, Drane took a variety of roles, including senior manager of product strategy for ANZ & Asia Pacific and vice president of commercial strategy for the games sales division.

His tenure at Aristocrat spanned over 12 years, providing him with crucial industry experience that would underpin his service as CPO of Light & Wonder.

Drane Is Thrilled about the New Role

Drane commented on his new role, saying that he is looking forward to taking on this role with Light & Wonder. He praised the company’s centralized content organization, saying that it formalizes the company’s global strategy to create best-in-class products in every market and on every intended platform.

It [the centralization of content production] 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.

Nathan Drane, CPO, Light & Wonder

Matt Wilson, Light & Wonder’s president and chief executive officer, welcomed Drane to the C-suite, praising his leadership and vision.

He [Drane] 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.

Matt Wilson, president & CEO, Light & Wonder

In the meantime, Rich Schneider, Light & Wonder’s former CPO, will assume the role of a senior advisor.

Light & Wonder Scored a Legal Victory in Australia

In other news, Light & Wonder just scored an important legal victory against competitor Aristocrat in Australia. Despite losing a similar case in the United States, Light & Wonder succeeded in protecting its Dragon Train game in Australia, to Aristocrat’s dismay.

Aristocrat, for context, claims that the Dragon Train game has violated its intellectual property because of its similarities to Dragon Link.