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# Scientific Games Names Kevin Schneider Interim CEO
- URL: https://www.igamingnews.biz/scientific-games-ceo-retirement/
- Published: 2026-08-11T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-11T18:48:52.000Z
- Description: Scientific Games CEO Pat McHugh will retire on September 8, 2026, after 20 years, with board member Kevin Schneider stepping in as interim chief executive.
- Author: iGamingNews Editorial Desk
- Tags: Executive Moves, Scientific Games

*Image credit: Source: Scientific Games company announcement. Never imply stock depicts the actual event.*

**Scientific Games said on 3 August that chief executive Pat McHugh will retire effective 8 September 2026, after more than 20 years at the lottery and gaming systems supplier, with board member Kevin Schneider stepping in as interim CEO while a permanent search runs.** McHugh will stay on as Vice Chair in an advisory role through the transition.

Schneider has sat on the Scientific Games board since 2022 and became Vice Chair in March 2026\. His background is outside gaming entirely: 35-plus years in regulated industries, including chief operating officer roles at Genworth Financial, plus earlier stints at GE Capital and GATX. That is a different profile from McHugh, a 30-year lottery-industry veteran who spent the last two decades inside this one company.

Chairman David Nowak framed the move as continuity with an outside check attached. "Pat has helped strengthen the company, expand its global lottery business and build trusted relationships with customers around the world," he said, adding the board has "full confidence in Kevin to lead the company as Interim CEO" while it runs an open search. McHugh said announcing the retirement now, rather than waiting, "allows the Board to conduct an open search for the best leader to guide the company."

Scientific Games, owned by Brookfield since a 2022 take-private deal, sits inside a supplier layer that has been consolidating hard. Apollo took IGT and Everi private in a $6.3 billion deal completed last July, and [Aristocrat and Light & Wonder have spent 2026 settling their own IP disputes over slot mechanics](https://www.igamingnews.biz/slot-game-mechanics-ip-cloning/) rather than competing purely on product. An interim CEO with no lottery-industry background, brought in from outside while the board searches openly, is itself a signal: Scientific Games wants its next permanent chief picked without an internal favorite pre-installed, at a moment when [the wider supplier tier is still working out who owns what](https://www.igamingnews.biz/gaming-supplier-consolidation-supply-chain/).

McHugh's exit follows a now-familiar pattern in the sector this year, where founder-era or long-tenure executives are handing off to interim or newly recruited leadership rather than grooming an internal successor for years in advance, as seen with [Rank Group's own CEO succession](https://www.igamingnews.biz/rank-group-richard-harris-permanent-ceo/) and [Sportradar's external hire for its new COO](https://www.igamingnews.biz/sportradar-sameer-deen-coo/). What Scientific Games has not disclosed is a timeline for the permanent search or a shortlist of candidates, leaving Schneider's tenure open-ended for now.