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The retailer, publisher, developer and executive is recognized for his long service in the games industry.
Ian Livingstone was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in the 2022 New Year’s Honors. This follows several other accolades for his service to the gaming industry, including an award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2002 and an honorary doctorate from the University of Bournemouth in 2011. Livingstone has been made an Officer of the Order of the British. Empire at the 2006 New Year Honors and Commander of the Order of the British Empire at the 2013 New Year Honors.
Livingstone has spent over 50 years in the gaming industry, as a retailer, publisher, developer and executive. He founded Games Workshop in 1975 alongside John Peake and Steve Jackson before becoming the first Dungeons & Dragons distributor in the United Kingdom. Livingstone began the annual Games Day convention with Jackson shortly thereafter. The duo started the video game magazine White Dwarf in 1977 as well as the board game company Citadel Miniatures in 1979 with Bryan Ansell.
The first entry in the Fighting Fantasy game book series was released in 1982. Livingstone and Jackson have produced over 15 volumes which have sold over 20 million copies. Jackson has also designed several board games including Boom Town, Judge Dredd, Automania, Legend of Zagor, and Dragonmasters.
Livingstone started with video games when he was hired by Domark to work as a designer on Eureka! As he left the company a few years later, Livingstone returned to Domark as a board member in 1993. “After the success of Games Workshop, I retired, got bored and I invested in Domark to fund the development of their cartridges, â€Livingstone later recalled. . “I arrived at the wrong time – everything was going flat. Domark was purchased by Eidos Interactive in 1995 and Livingstone was continued as director of product acquisition. He got several franchises for the company, including Tomb Raider and Hitman. Eidos Interactive was acquired by Square Enix in 2009.
Livingstone is currently a board member of several independent developers, including Flavorworks, Antstream, Fusebox Games, Midoki, Bossa Studios, and The Secret Police.
“As a longtime gamer, it has been a privilege to work in the games industry for almost 45 years,†Livingstone told Video Games Chronicle. “Work and play have been the same for me and I will never retire. He went on to say, “I love being involved in game design and strategy and all of the studios I work with have differentiable products, which is important to avoid a potential conflict of interest. All projects I’m working on are important to me and some of the upcoming titles developed by the studios are amazing.
While he has no specific plans for the future, the coming years are sure to be exciting for Livingstone as he looks forward to continuing his already long career in the games industry.
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