Meet Duncan McIntyre – President & CEO
To kick off our monthly series on employee insights at Lion Gaming, we started with none other than our President & CEO Duncan McIntyre.
Duncan is an entrepreneurial tech executive with a track record of scaling companies. Duncan is a licensed blockchain and digital assets lawyer and investor with 10+ years experience in the gaming industry. He’s helped numerous companies with their go-public strategies and has supported tokenization plans for several organizations.
Keep reading to learn more about Duncan and his insights into the iGaming industry.
What first drew you into the iGaming industry?
I’m originally from South Africa, and with that background comes a natural love of sports. I remember many early mornings with my dad, watching rugby, Formula 1, soccer, or really anything that had winners and losers.
I’ve always been obsessed with all things sports, whether that be playing, watching or collecting memorabilia. Sports data and eventually sports betting was the natural arc of my love of competition, with the almost beautiful intersection of technology, competition, high-street finance and sports.
What is the most exciting thing about working at Lion Gaming?
As a company, we live by the belief that we must always push the envelope from a technology perspective. Contained in that mandate is an obsessive love of emerging technologies and how these evolutions can become a part of the mainstream consciousness. Especially in an industry like iGaming – who’s growth is fuelled by technology – it’s exciting to be able to apply our love for advanced tech to propel the industry further forward.
What do you think is next for the iGaming industry?
The recent success of play-to-earn games is inspiring. This industry will continue to adapt player-first approaches. While I won’t give away what Lion Gaming is working on, player rights should be the focus of operators everywhere. This includes ownership, socialization, and ease of use.
What role will Web3 have in the iGaming sector?
It’s at the forefront of the minds of everyone here at Lion Gaming. The world is evolving from content and data consumption to one of a value-exchange model. That means that players or users must receive value just as operators should. At Lion, we are looking beyond the sports betting and casino industries. We are looking at entertainment generally. Interoperability, socialization, and user rights will be at the forefront. We believe that smart contracts will be the transactional pathway underpinning Web3.
How far out is VR wagering to mainstream adoption?
Mainstream adoption will happen once VR equipment is affordable and offers an experience that doesn’t feel so clunky and foreign like it does today. Cost of VR hardware also has come down dramatically in recent years while ease of use has increased, which I think will further adoption. One of the biggest hurdles to mainstream adoption at the moment is the fact that VR tech simply isn’t where we thought it would be five years ago. We still suffer from clunky headgear and a lack of sensory input beyond visual and auditory. Once some of the rough edges are ironed out, adoption will happen quickly.
What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced in building a startup in the iGaming industry?
There’s always challenges when building a startup, but that’s part of what makes it fun for me. Plus, we’re a fully remote team which comes with its own unique challenges as well. I think getting our technology to the point that it’s at now, where we’re really happy with it and believe that it truly is something the market hasn’t seen before, has been the most challenging and rewarding part of building Lion so far. There’s always a certain sense of pride that comes with building something amazing from scratch and overcoming the hurdles that it took to get there.
Where were you before Lion Gaming?
I am a licensed blockchain and digital assets lawyer and investor with 10+ years experience in the gaming industry. I’ve helped numerous companies with their go-public or tokenization plans.
Any exciting news or anything else you’d like to share?
There’s a whole lot that I would like to share, but you’ll just have to wait and follow along with us throughout the rest of the year to see some of the exciting developments that we’ll be rolling out. One thing that we’re really excited about here is that we’re on-track to go-public by the end of the year. There’s a certain level of respect that you command when you are listed on a stock exchange, and it brings a sense of legitimacy to your brand.
