Eidos life president leaves

Eidos life president Ian Livingstone has left the Deus Ex and Tomb Raider studio after more than 20 years with the company, it was announced today on the Square Enix blog.

"Ian is one of the original founding fathers of the UK games industry and is setting out on a new chapter to focus more time on the important projects he is working on outside of Square Enix," the company said.

This includes establishing The Livingstone Foundation to open Free Schools and Academies, an initiative that aims to foster creativity, collaboration, coding, and problem-based learning. The program also seeks to help establish games as an education tool.

In addition, Square Enix said Livingstone will "remain active" in the industry, serving as both an advisor and an entrepreneur for social and mobile games. No specific projects were announced.

On top of helping establish Eidos and launch brands like Tomb Raider, Hitman, and Deus Ex, Livingstone cofounded iconic role-playing game company Games Workshop.

Livingstone's role as life president at Eidos saw him working in public affairs, giving talks around the world, and working closely with the United Kingdom government. He is also credited with playing a significant role in the recent production tax credits submission for the UK game industry.

"We're not saying a full goodbye as we're hopeful we will get to work with Ian on some future projects," Square Enix said. "But all of us at Square Enix do want to take this opportunity to publicly thank Ian for his unparalleled tenure and contribution to this business and the UK games industry. And we wish him every success with his future projects and new ventures."