In Part 1 of my interview with Ian Livingstone, founder of Games Workshop, Life President of Eidos and ambassador for the games industry, we talked about his report to the British government on creating the next generation of game developers.
But, of course, Livingstone is a game developer and publisher himself - Games Workshop properties thrive, from Relic's Warhammer 40,000 video games to tabletop wargames played with Citadel Miniatures (another company founded by Livingstone), and it was under his guidance that the absurdly successful Championship Manager and Tomb Raider franchises, among many others, were conceived. So, I wanted to talk not just about the next generation of gamers, but the current one.
"I think piracy is going to be a short-lived phenomenon"
Among your titles is Life President of Eidos, a Square Enix Company. In the global games market, we have the situation where digital revenues are growing, but we have great anxiety about copy infringement on the PC side and resale on the console side. How do you see the pitch of the games industry?
Well, the games industry is in constant change. And the most recent changes are that move from analog to digital, from a premium price model to a freemium price model, and games are moving from a product to a service. Now, that has created some challenges, for example in retail, as more and more games have been played online – the industry estimates are that as soon as next year global revenues from digital sales will surpass those from boxed product.
And of course that a challenge, but at the same time it's an incredible opportunity for original content creators to reach global audiences through high-speed broadband and serve the content to people anywhere in the world. As a creative nation, I think that's a great, positive thing for the United Kingdom in particular. Because we are good at creating content, and barriers to reaching markets are disappearing, because they don't have to go through the traditional distribution channels.
So, the challenge of the large console manufacturers is how they are going to embrace the digital world. People still want to play AAA games, with highly graphic, intensely cinematic experiences like FIFA, Call of Duty or Tomb Raider, but the delivery mechanism might change over time. They might be served as purely digital, or the hardware might disappear and the technology be embedded in smart TVs.
Who knows where technology is going to take us? But I do think piracy is going to be a short-lived phenomenon, as the business models change and the distribution models change. You will be serving the content free and making in-app purchases - to buy the big gun inside the game. You could sell a gun at a dollar to 100 million or 10 million people, as opposed to trying to charge $60 upfront. Moving from a product or service is going to change the business model. Also, technology and pricing, I hope, will have a profound effect on reducing the amount of intellectual property theft.
Speaking of intellectual property, we have seen quite a few recent projects which have been picking up on old, beloved IP. Do you find yourself wondering whether there is a future for some of the classic dome claims for example in new formats. An iPad “Lords of midnight"?
I’m sure it would be possible! (Laughs) Lords of Midnight. Mike Singleton. Great game! And I’m sure there must be huge fans. I think that is a much stronger proposition than new IP, ironically, on Kickstarter or other crowdfunding sites in the short term. But as the model becomes established, new IP will will have great opportunities for crowd funding. But for the romantic, the hobbyist, and followers of old IP, I think it's remarkable. For example, you might know that I wrote Fighting Fantasy gamebooks?
(I assent, and manfully resist confessing how hard I cheated to keep my crew alive in Starship Traveller)
It’s the 30th anniversary of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (the first of this successful line of multiple-choice adventure books), and to celebrate I’m writing a new one – Blood of the Zombies. And the publisher – it’s a very small publisher now, because ironically gamebooks have been usurped by video games – was thinking about doing a few collectors' items through a crowdfunding site, to give the fans chance to buy something, because economically you can't do it through normal distribution channels.
But if there are 5 people who’d like to pay £500 for a prestige edition…
Exactly! So, we’re thinking of doing a couple of hand-bound editions of Blood of the Zombies - just a few limited copies, and then some special art, just for the fans.
You couldn’t possibly print such small numbers. But you can if it’s one of many things being offered through crowdfunding. And there's a fantastic opportunity, because banks clearly are not in the best place to invest in digital content. Because they've never a) understood it or b) adopted a portfolio approach to content. Because no one can understand, I guess, if a game is going to be successful or not. Nobody, with hand on heart, knows, so why should the bank?
So, going back to writing a gamebook, after moving into the industry that really killed them – what’s that like, after the kind of open worlds that Lara Croft moves through. What’s it like to go back into the gamebook trenches?
To be honest, I've loved every minute of it. If you look at it in terms of opportunity cost, it's totally the wrong thing to do. But Fighting Fantasy is very close to my heart and also, of course, to (Games Workshop co-founder) Steve Jackson's heart. And over the years I've met so many people in their late 30s and early 40s who obviously grew up with Fighting Fantasy, who ask “are you the Ian Livingstone who wrote those Fighting Fantasy gamebooks?” – and then revert to childhood!
I thought it would be great to write a new book. It took me two years to write this one – it used to take me two or three months, tops, in the old days! But I really appreciate what everyone’s said about Fighting Fantasy, and so many people got in to the games industry because of them, and that’s very humbling and gratifying to hear.
And, returning to the present, do you get the opportiunity to play video games in between all these jobs?
I’m lucky that I could convert my hobby of playing games into a career making them, and that hobby has never disappeared. I run a games night club, which I’ve done since 1986. It’s me, Steve Jackson, [former Lionhead/Microsoft Studios, now 22 Cans head] Peter Molyneux and three other guys. I keep score, and write a newsletter, and at the end of the year we have a trophy that gets engraved with the winner of the games night for the year.
But I do play a lot of video games. And like anyone else on the move, I play games on my iPad, and on Facebook, and I invest a lot in little indie startups, because I love the new digital space. It's like the second golden age of games where small teams can iterate, innovate and be very original, and serve content quite quickly.
If it doesn't work, they can try something else, but they can express themselves in an original way online, whether it's a casual game, a free to play game, a social game or the huge explosion of apps on mobile devices. It's fantastic, fun time to make games again. The things I play are… Skyrim, and the usual suspects on my iPad: Carcasonne, or Words With Friends. Just the same as everybody else…
Blood of the Zombies will be released for iOS, Android and Dead Tree OS in 4 August 2012.
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