Biography

Ian Livingstone

Eidos

Ian Livingstone is Creative Director at Eidos and a leading pioneer of interactive entertainment. In 1975 he founded Games Workshop Ltd with Steve Jackson and launched Dungeons & Dragons in Europe and the Games Workshop retail chain.  In 1977 he launched White Dwarf, the UK’s first interactive games magazine, and was its editor for 5 years. In 1982, again with Steve Jackson, he devised Fighting Fantasy, the series of interactive gamebooks that sold over 15 million copies in 23 languages. He wrote more than 20 books in the series including his best-selling Deathtrap Dungeon.  He has also invented many board games.  In 1992 he became Deputy Chairman of computer games company Domark. In 1995 he was instrumental in the merger and flotation of Domark with technology company Eidos and served as Executive Chairman of the Board of the new interactive entity Eidos plc until 2002.  At Eidos - the UK's leading developer and publisher of video games - he has helped to secure many of the company's major franchises including Tomb Raider, Championship Manager, Hitman and Pony Friends.  In 2000 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Technology by the University of Abertay Dundee. In 2002 he was awarded the BAFTA Special Award for his outstanding contribution to the interactive entertainment industry. In 2003 he was appointed Creative Industries advisor to the British Council. In 2004 he was made a Creative Industries Luminary for London. In 2004 he was appointed Non-Executive Chairman of Bright Things plc. In 2005 he was appointed Chair of the Computer Games Skills Forum. In 2005 he was appointed Non-Executive Director of Skillset, the Sector Skills Council for the Audio Visual Industries. He was awarded an OBE in the 2006 New Year’s Honours List for his contribution to the Computer Games Industry. 

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