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Dylan Slaney, CEO of Light & Wonder’s iGaming division, announced his resignation on Monday, creating another challenge for the company as it deals with ongoing litigation over its Dragon Train slot.
Slaney emphasized that personal reasons were the cause of departure, perhaps seeking to preempt speculation about whether the decision stemmed from the company’s other challenges.
I’ve decided to step down as CEO of Light & Wonder—iGaming. A personal decision in its purest form.
Dylan Slaney, via a post on LinkedIn.
Slaney reflects on seven years of tenure at Light & Wonder
With over seven years of service in the company, Slaney has ascended through the company’s ranks, leading to his position as iGaming CEO since 2021.
Having navigated numerous organizational changes, Slaney held the position of Senior Vice President at NXY Gaming Group prior to its acquisition by Light & Wonder in 2018. Slaney joined Light & Wonder in the same year.
“It’s been an incredible journey leading this business over the past 7 years, and I’m immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished together. Thank you to Light & Wonder for putting your trust in me as CEO and for the support to invest and grow the iGaming business,” Slaney wrote.
Light & Wonder rebounds after Dragon Train setback
Light & Wonder (NASDAQ: LNW) has been dealing with the consequences of a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit. Dragon Train was one of Light & Wonder’s top-performing slots until the court order forced its removal from North American markets.
Rival developer Aristocrat Gaming accused a Light & Wonder of using a former Aristocrat employee to steal the mathematical design of its game, Dragon Link.
That news caused a sharp drop in LNW share values. However, judging by subsequent performance, it has done an adequate job of assuring investors that the setback is temporary. That has been helped by the company recording a roughly 6% year-over-year revenue increase for its iGaming division, exceeding $74 million for its Q3 result; this is also the 14th consecutive quarter of revenue growth for the gaming company.
As part of the restructuring, 95% of the 2000+ Dragon Train units were taken down from all retail and online casinos where they were live and replaced with other game titles from the company’s extensive portfolio.
Our pre-ruling estimate of 2025 Consolidated AEBITDA for Dragon Train was less than 5% of the $1.4 billion target. We expect growth in consolidated AEBITDA to be above 10% for the full year 2024.
Light & Wonder Q3 2024 report
The company is also rapidly moving forward with plans to launch Dragon Train 2.0 in the near future. The plan is for it to be similar in design and visuals to the original but with reworked math. Emma Charles, the game mathematician whose work is at the heart of the lawsuit, no longer works for the company.
