Scientific Games has announced the appointment of Aristocrat’s Rich Schneider as its new chief product officer, effective from mid-2021.
In is new role, Schneider will oversee Scientific Games’ product strategy, define research and development roadmaps and further enhance the business’s market position.
Schneider will join Scientific Games next year, having served as chief product officer at Aristocrat since July 2011.
Prior to this, Schneider had a spell as chief operating officer at Walker Digital Table Systems and also served in a number of leadership roles at International Game Technology (IGT), including executive vice president, casino products.
He is also a founding member of the Gaming Standards Association and served as its vice chairman for three years.
“Scientific Games is known for a culture of innovation and has brought amazing developments to our industry from player-favourite games to advanced cabinets and cutting-edge systems,” Schneider said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun to work with this team to deliver the next gaming innovations.”
Scientific Games’ president and chief executive Barry Cottle added: “Rich’s expertise in design, development and gaming makes him the perfect complement to our Scientific Games leadership team.
“Combining Rich’s expertise and creativity with our talented teams will bring industry-leading products and technology to our partners and their players.”
The appointment comes after Scientific Games last week said it expected to save more than $100m from cost-saving measures it has rolled out to help reduce the impact of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) on the business.
Scientific Games had already set out a range of actions it said would preserve jobs and protect its operations during the ongoing pandemic. These included its workforce having hours and pay reduced, while workers in support roles were furloughed.
In addition, its executive leadership has voluntarily reduced its salaries by 50%, with Cottle going without pay.