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Ian Livingstone

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For other people named Ian Livingstone, seeIan Livingstone (disambiguation).

Sir
Ian Livingstone
CBE
Ian Livingstone at theBafta Awards2006
Born(1949-12-29)29 December 1949(age 74)[1]
Prestbury, Cheshire,England
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Fantasy author,entrepreneur
Known forCo-creator forFighting Fantasygamebooks
Co-founder forGames Workshop
Co-founder forEidos Interactive

Sir Ian LivingstoneCBE(born 29 December 1949[2]) is an Englishfantasy authorandentrepreneur.Along withSteve Jackson,he is the co-founder of a series of role-playinggamebooks,Fighting Fantasy,and the author of many books within that series. He co-foundedGames Workshopin 1975 and helped createEidos Interactiveas executive chairman of Eidos Plc in 1995.

Early life

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Livingstone attendedAltrincham Grammar School for Boys,where, according to him, he only earned oneA-level,in Geography.[3][4]He has kept his close links with the school and has visited it on numerous occasions,[5][6]including to donate money for a refurbishment of theICTsuite,[citation needed]and to present awards toGCSErecipients in 1998.[citation needed]

Career

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Games Workshop

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Livingstone co-foundedGames Workshopin early 1975 with flatmatesJohn PeakeandSteve Jackson.[7][8]: 43 They began publishing the monthly newsletterOwl and Weasel,and distributed copies of the first issue tofanzineAlbionsubscribers;Brian Blumereceived one of these copies, and sent them a copy of the new gameDungeons & Dragonsin return. Livingstone and Jackson found this game to be more imaginative than games produced in the UK at the time, and so worked out an arrangement with Blume for an exclusive deal to sellD&Din Europe.[8]: 43 They began distributingDungeons & Dragonsand otherTSRproducts later in 1975.[9]Livingstone and Jackson organised a convention for their first time in late 1975, which became known as the firstGames Day.[8]: 43 Because they were selling products out of their flat, customers would come there looking for a store that did not exist; because of this their landlord evicted them in summer 1976.[8]: 43 

Under the direction of Livingstone and Jackson, Games Workshop expanded from a bedroom mail order company to a successful gaming manufacturer and retail chain, with the first Games Workshop store opening inHammersmithin 1977.[10]In June of that year, partially to advertise the opening, Livingstone and Jackson launched the gaming magazineWhite Dwarf,with Livingstone as the editor. Livingstone chose the title, which had meaning relevant to both the fantasy and science fiction genres: awhite dwarfcould be a reference to both astellar phenomenonand to afantasy character.[8]: 44 Livingstone ended his run as editor afterWhite Dwarf#74 (February 1986).[8]: 48 

In 1980, Livingstone and Jackson began to develop the concept of theFighting Fantasygamebookseries, the first volume of which (The Warlock of Firetop Mountain) was published in 1982 byPuffin Books.[8]: 46 Livingstone and Jackson sold Games Workshop in 1991 for£10 million.[10]The pair, together withBryan Ansell,foundedCitadel Miniaturesin Newark to make miniatures for games. Livingstone has also invented several board games, includingBoom Town,Judge Dredd,Automania,Legend of Zagor,andDragonmasters.[11]

Fighting Fantasy

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In 1982, Jackson and Livingstone co-wroteThe Warlock of Firetop Mountain,the first book in theFighting Fantasyseries,[11]but following an instruction from publishersPenguinto write more books "as quickly as possible" the pair wrote subsequent books separately.[citation needed]The series had sold over 18 million copies as of 2017,[12]with Livingstone'sDeathtrap Dungeonselling over 350,000 copies in its first year alone.[13]Livingstone wrote another twelveFighting Fantasygamebooks, includingThe Forest of Doom,City of ThievesandCaverns of the Snow Witchbefore marking the 30th anniversary ofThe Warlock of Firetop Mountainwith a new gamebook,Blood of the Zombies,in 2012,[14]and withThe Port of Perilin 2017 for the 35th anniversary.[12]

Video games

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In the mid-1980s Livingstone did design work for video game publisherDomark;he returned to the company in 1993 as a major investor and board member. Livingstone later recounted, "After the success of Games Workshop, I retired, got bored, and invested in Domark to fund their cartridge development. I got in at just the wrong time - it was all going flat."[15]In 1995, Domark was acquired by the video technology company Eidos,[10]which had been floated on theLondon Stock Exchangein 1990, and formed the major part of the newly created Eidos plc, known forEidos Interactive.Livingstone resigned as executive chairman in 2002 and became creative director.[16]In 2005 Eidos was taken over bySCiand Livingstone was the only former board member to be retained, taking on the role of product acquisition director.[17]Livingstone secured many of the company's major franchises, includingTomb RaiderandHitman.[11]He contributed to the Tomb Raider projectTomb Raider: Anniversary(an enhanced version of theoriginalTomb Raidergame), which was released in 2007.[17]In 2009, Japanese video-game companySquare Enixcompleted a buyout of Eidos Interactive and Livingstone was promoted to Life President of Eidos, a position he resigned from in 2013.[18]

In 2014 Livingstone appeared in the documentary feature filmFrom Bedrooms to Billions(2014) a film that tells the story of the British Video Games Industry from 1979 to present.[19]In 2021 Freeway Fighters received an adaptation on Viber and messenger, created by a Talk-a-Bot chatbot company over Viber and messenger.[20]Livingstone was the non-executive chairman ofSumo Groupfrom 2015 to 2022.[21]He is a general partner at Hiro Capital, which invested inSkybound Entertainmentin 2022.[22]

Educational

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In 2010 Livingstone was asked to act as the Skills Champion by government ministerEd Vaizey,tasked with producing a report reviewing the UK video games industry. The 'NextGen' report, co-authored with Alex Hope of visual effects firmDouble Negative,was released in 2011;[23]Livingstone described it as a "complete bottom up review of the whole education system relating to games."[24]A school named Livingstone Academy was planned for 2021.[25]

Awards and honours

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Bibliography

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Fighting Fantasy

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Fighting Fantasy First Adventures: Adventures of Goldhawk

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  • Darkmoon's Curse (1995)
  • The Demon Spider(1995)
  • Mudworm Swamp(1995)
  • Ghost Road(1995)

Other works

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References

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  1. ^"Officers - Square Enix Limited".
  2. ^Green, Jonathan (2014).You Are The Hero.Snow Books. p. 10.ISBN978-1-909679-38-2.
  3. ^Yin-Poole, Weasley (16 January 2014)."What Ian Livingstone Did Next".EuroGamer.net.Gamer Network.Retrieved17 September2014.
  4. ^Admed, Emad (7 August 2017).""Generation Z naturally collaborate": games legend Ian Livingstone on opening a school ".NewStatesman.New Statesman.Retrieved12 January2018.
  5. ^"Video game pioneer Ian Livingstone returns to his roots".MessengerNewspapers.co.uk.Newsquest (North West) Ltd. 18 March 2013.Retrieved12 January2018.
  6. ^"Old Altrinchamians Centenary Dinner".MessengerNewspapers.co.uk.Newsquest (North West) Ltd. 12 April 2014.Retrieved12 January2018.
  7. ^Livingstone, Ian (April 1975). "Editorial".Owl and Weasel(3). Games Workshop: 2.
  8. ^abcdefgShannon Appelcline (2011).Designers & Dragons.Mongoose Publishing.ISBN978-1-907702-58-7.
  9. ^Livingstone, Ian (July 1975). "Editorial".Owl and Weasel(6). Games Workshop: 10.
  10. ^abcMcGrath, Melanie (2 June 1998)."A Visit to the Fantasy World of Ian Livingstone".The Independent.Retrieved11 January2018.
  11. ^abcdeLivingstone, Ian (2007). "Amun-Re".InLowder, James(ed.).Hobby Games: The 100 Best.Green Ronin Publishing.pp. 9–12.ISBN978-1-932442-96-0.
  12. ^ab"Fighting Fantasy: The Port of Peril".Scholastic.co.uk.Scholastic Ltd.Retrieved11 January2018.
  13. ^Green, Jonathan (2014).You Are The Hero.Snow Books. p. 33.ISBN978-1-909679-38-2.
  14. ^Ian Livingstone,Twitter,14 October 2011
  15. ^"Ian Livingstone".Next Generation.No. 28.Imagine Media.April 1997. p. 95.
  16. ^"Eidos change at the helm".Evening Standard.12 April 2002.Retrieved13 June2024.
  17. ^abBoyes, Emma."Q&A: Ian Livingstone on 10 years of Lara".GameSpot.Archived fromthe originalon 26 January 2007.
  18. ^"Eidos President and CEO Ian Livingstone departs after 20 years".Polygon.Vox Media, Inc.30 September 2013.Retrieved11 January2018.
  19. ^"From Bedrooms to Billions (2014) Full Cast & Crew".IMDb.IMDb, Inc.Retrieved11 January2018.
  20. ^"Hungarian Startup adapts Freeway Fighter role-playing gamebook for chatbot".fightingfantasy.Retrieved30 April2021.
  21. ^Handrahan, Matthew (22 September 2015)."Ian Livingstone CBE joins Sumo Digital".GamesIndustry.biz.Retrieved28 November2023.
  22. ^Batchelor, James (19 May 2022)."Skybound Entertainment secures fresh investment from Hiro Capital, Knollwood Advisory and more".GamesIndustry.biz.Retrieved2 November2023.
  23. ^"Next Gen. - Nesta".nesta.org.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 4 June 2011.Retrieved11 June2011.
  24. ^Harris, Phil (11 September 2010)."Ian Livingstone - EI10 Interview".Square-Go.Archived fromthe originalon 5 October 2011.Retrieved5 October2011.
  25. ^Batchelor, James (16 July 2020)."Why Ian Livingstone is building a school".GamesIndustry.biz.
  26. ^"The Special Award".BAFTA. 23 December 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 31 October 2012.Retrieved1 January2013.
  27. ^"2006 New Year Honours List"(PDF).BBC.30 December 2005.Retrieved1 January2013.
  28. ^"No. 60367".The London Gazette(Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 8.
  29. ^Kelion, Leo (29 December 2012)."Tech visionaries make honours list".BBC News.
  30. ^"Bournemouth University announces Honorary Doctorates".Bournemouth University. 3 November 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 4 April 2013.Retrieved1 January2013.
  31. ^"Ian Livingstone OBE receives honorary degree from BU".Bournemouth University. 11 November 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 24 November 2012.Retrieved1 January2013.
  32. ^"No. 63571".The London Gazette(Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N2.
  33. ^Robinson, Andy (1 January 2022)."UK games industry legend Ian Livingstone to be knighted".Video Games Chronicle.Retrieved1 January2022.
  34. ^OpenLibrary.org."Dicing with Dragons - Open Library".Open Library.

Further reading

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