Ian Livingstone
entrepreneur | |
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Known for | Co-creator for Fighting Fantasy gamebooks Co-founder for Games Workshop Co-founder for Eidos Interactive |
Sir Ian Livingstone
Early life
Livingstone attended
]Career
Games Workshop
Livingstone co-founded
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 in
In 1980, Livingstone and Jackson began to develop the concept of the Fighting Fantasy gamebook series, the first volume of which (The Warlock of Firetop Mountain) was published in 1982 by Puffin Books.[8]: 46 Livingstone and Jackson sold Games Workshop in 1991 for £10 million.[10] The pair, together with Bryan Ansell, founded Citadel Miniatures in Newark to make miniatures for games. Livingstone has also invented several board games, including Boom Town, Judge Dredd, Automania, Legend of Zagor, and Dragonmasters.[11]
Fighting Fantasy
In 1982, Jackson and Livingstone co-wrote
Video games
In the mid-1980s Livingstone did design work for video game publisher
In 2014 Livingstone appeared in the documentary feature film From Bedrooms to Billions (2014) a film that tells the story of the British Video Games Industry from 1979 to present.[18] In 2021 Freeway Fighters received an adaptation on Viber and messenger, created by a Talk-a-Bot chatbot company over Viber and messenger.[19] Livingstone was the non-executive chairman of Sumo Group from 2015 to 2022.[20] He is a general partner at Hiro Capital, which invested in Skybound Entertainment in 2022.[21]
Educational
In 2010 Livingstone was asked to act as the Skills Champion by government minister
Awards and honours
- In 2002, Livingstone won the BAFTA Interactive Special Award for outstanding contribution to the industry.[11][25]
- Livingstone was appointed
- In 2011, Livingstone received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Bournemouth University.[29][30]
- Livingstone was knighted in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to the online gaming industry.[31][32]
Bibliography
Fighting Fantasy
- Steve Jackson, Puffin Books
- The Forest of Doom (1983)
- City of Thieves (1983)
- Deathtrap Dungeon (1984)
- Island of the Lizard King (1984)
- Caverns of the Snow Witch (1984)
- Freeway Fighter (1985)
- Temple of Terror (1985)
- Trial of Champions (1986)
- Crypt of the Sorcerer(1987)
- Armies of Death (1988)
- Return to Firetop Mountain (1992)
- Eye of the Dragon (2005)
- Blood of the Zombies (2012)
- The Port of Peril (2017)
- Assassins of Allansia (2019)
- Shadow of the Giants (2022)
Fighting Fantasy First Adventures: Adventures of Goldhawk
- Darkmoon's Curse (1995)
- The Demon Spider (1995)
- Mudworm Swamp (1995)
- Ghost Road (1995)
Other works
- Dicing with Dragons (1982)[33]
- Domark
- Shadowmaster (1992) with Marc Gascoigne
- Casket of Souls (1987)
- Board Games in 100 Moves: 8,000 Years of Play (2019) with James Wallis
- Dice Men: The Origin Story of Games Workshop (2022)
References
- ^ "Officers - Square Enix Limited".
- ISBN 978-1-909679-38-2.
- ^ Yin-Poole, Weasley (16 January 2014). "What Ian Livingstone Did Next". EuroGamer.net. Gamer Network. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
- ^ Admed, Emad (7 August 2017). ""Generation Z naturally collaborate": games legend Ian Livingstone on opening a school". NewStatesman.com. New Statesman. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
- ^ "Video game pioneer Ian Livingstone returns to his roots". MessengerNewspapers.co.uk. Newsquest (North West) Ltd. 18 March 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
- ^ "Old Altrinchamians Centenary Dinner". MessengerNewspapers.co.uk. Newsquest (North West) Ltd. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
- ^ Livingstone, Ian (April 1975). "Editorial". Owl and Weasel (3). Games Workshop: 2.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
- ^ Livingstone, Ian (July 1975). "Editorial". Owl and Weasel (6). Games Workshop: 10.
- ^ a b c McGrath, Melanie (2 June 1998). "A Visit to the Fantasy World of Ian Livingstone". The Independent. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-932442-96-0.
- ^ a b "Fighting Fantasy: The Port of Peril". Scholastic.co.uk. Scholastic Ltd. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-909679-38-2.
- ^ Ian Livingstone, Twitter, 14 October 2011
- Imagine Media. April 1997. p. 95.
- ^ a b Boyes, Emma. "Q&A: Ian Livingstone on 10 years of Lara". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 26 January 2007.
- Vox Media, Inc.30 September 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
- ^ "From Bedrooms to Billions (2014) Full Cast & Crew". IMDb.com. IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
- ^ "Hungarian Startup adapts Freeway Fighter role-playing gamebook for chatbot". fightingfantasy.com. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
- ^ Handrahan, Matthew (22 September 2015). "Ian Livingstone CBE joins Sumo Digital". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
- ^ Batchelor, James (19 May 2022). "Skybound Entertainment secures fresh investment from Hiro Capital, Knollwood Advisory and more". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ^ "Next Gen. - Nesta". www.nesta.org.uk. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
- ^ Harris, Phil (11 September 2010). "Ian Livingstone - EI10 Interview". Square-Go. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
- ^ Batchelor, James (16 July 2020). "Why Ian Livingstone is building a school". GamesIndustry.biz.
- ^ "The Special Award". BAFTA. 23 December 2011. Archived from the original on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
- ^ "2006 New Year Honours List" (PDF). BBC. 30 December 2005. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
- ^ "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 8.
- ^ Kelion, Leo (29 December 2012). "Tech visionaries make honours list". BBC News.
- ^ "Bournemouth University announces Honorary Doctorates". Bournemouth University. 3 November 2011. Archived from the original on 4 April 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
- ^ "Ian Livingstone OBE receives honorary degree from BU". Bournemouth University. 11 November 2011. Archived from the original on 24 November 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
- ^ "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N2.
- ^ Robinson, Andy (1 January 2022). "UK games industry legend Ian Livingstone to be knighted". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ OpenLibrary.org. "Dicing with Dragons - Open Library". Open Library.
Further reading
- Boxer, Steve (9 July 2019). "Biography: Ian Livingstone, a founding father of the UK games industry". Video Games Chronicle.
- Raider of the Costly Art - Interview OPEN
- "Ian Livingstone interview on Yog Radio about Games Workshop and Fighting Fantasy, June 2010". Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
- The Next Gen Report co-authored with David Hope (Nesta, 2011)
- Ian Livingstone interview Archived 5 October 2011 at the Square-EnixEurope
- Interview with Pocket-lint talking about Facebook gaming, Fighting Fantasy, and his new venture Appertyze
- Biography (part 1) at EidosInteractive.co.uk (archived 2010-03-04)
- Speech at Games Based Learning Conference, London, 2009 (archived 2013-04-18)
External links
- Ian Livingstone profile at MobyGames
- Ian Livingstone at Library of Congress, with 13 library catalogue records
- Ian Livingstone at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- "Ian Livingstone :: Pen & Paper RPG Database". Archived from the original on 10 March 2005. Retrieved 20 January 2020.