Ian Livingstone

Peter Molyneux, Cliff Bleszinski and Ian Livingstone will help coach the teams taking part in Epic Games' iOS game jam at the Gadget Show Live next month. Make Something Unreal Live will see four teams spend 48 hours making iOS games in Epic's Unreal Engine, based on Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson's Fighting Fantasy novels. More >

UK trade body UKIE has described the chancellor's announcement of tax relief for the UK videogame industry as "fantastic news." While rival trade association TIGA has tirelessly campaigned for Games Tax Relief, and was quick to claim the credit earlier today, UKIE has also pressured government for targeted tax incentives. It's the association's second major policy victory of the year, after it successfully lobbied for computer science to be taught in UK schools. More >

Organisers have announced the venue and first round of speakers for the annual Edinburgh Interactive festival, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary. Eidos life president Ian Livingstone is marking an anniversary of his own this year; his first Fighting Fantasy book, The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain, will be 30 years old in August. He'll discuss his new interactive novel, Blood Of The Zombies, and will also chair a skills and education panel. More >

UK trade association UKIE has said it is "encouraged" by reports claiming the government is to introduce a tax break for TV production. In a press release, UKIE praises the government's recognition of the role targeted tax relief can play in stimulating growth in the creative industries, and calls on it to extend the measure to the nation's videogame industry. More >

Next Gen Skills, the cross-industry coalition formed by UK trade association UKIE which seeks to promote the study of computer programming skills, says there are 17,000 fewer students of computer science in UK universities than there were a decade ago. More >

Trade association UKIE has today called on government to improve access to finance for UK game developers. The call comes in a policy paper submitted to government ahead of next month's Budget, in which UKIE makes ten recommendations to better enable UK videogame companies to secure investment and tax relief. More >

Epic Games has announced that it has secured the rights to the Fighting Fantasy series for its iOS development contest, Make Something Unreal. The deal means that the four teams selected to take part in Make Something Unreal Live, a game jam to be held at the Gadget Show Live 2012 in April, will be based on the beloved series of role-playing books created by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, specifically The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain, The Citadel Of Chaos, Deathtrap Dungeon, and Armies Of Death. All four games will be released on the iOS App Store. More >

Gaming industry charity GamesAid has announced LittleBigBunch, a collection of six indie PC games available for as much, or as little, as you want. The bundle, which launches on December 14, includes Frozen Synapse, Explodemon, Serious Sam Double D, Munch's Oddysee and New Star Soccer 5. Like the Humble Bundle promotions, buyers can stipulate how they would like their payment to be split between the developers and GamesAid. More >

Ian Livingstone has said he is expecting a "positive response" to the Next Gen skills review he co-authored with Double Negative founder Alex Hope. The report highlighted the shortcomings in the way the national curriculum prepares students for careers in the digital and creative industries, and called for computer science to replace ICT, which focuses on the use of software packages instead of how to make them. The government was expected to respond to the report this week, but speaking to Gamesindustry.biz, Livingstone confirmed it would take a little longer. More >

UK prime minister David Cameron yesterday acknowledged the need for an overhaul of the way children are taught to use computers in schools, admitting that the current education system is "not doing enough to actually teach the next generation of programmers." More >

Trade body hopes formation of the UKIE development group, appointment for ATO for Gamescom and GDC, and Scottish office will deliver tangible benefits to the UK's game industry. More >