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Ian Livingstone, best known for giving the world Lara Croft, was in Mumbai recently to discuss a UK-India collaboration in the gaming industry. With worldwide salesin gaming touching billions of dollars, Livingstone tells Labonita Ghosh that it’s time India plugged itself into the global market

How did you hit upon the idea of Lara Croft?
One of my colleagues, who had seen the rise of girl power, came up with a female character for a game we’d already published on exploring tombs and finding treasure. She was called Lara Cruise, but we changed that to Croft, which sounded more English. I have been more of a father to Lara Croft in her amazing journey from a 2D piece of artwork to one of the digital icons of the gaming world. We’ve licensed to Paramount for two blockbuster movies, and over a dozen consumer goods companies want Lara Croft to promote their products. She is the James Bond of the digital world — having survived 12 years of gaming the way Bond has survived 40 years of cinema. Next year we’re releasing new Lara Croft versions for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, so we have high hopes for her.

How do you view games — as sport, entertainment or education?
I see them as entertainment with a contribution towards learning. Most games teach you about puzzle-solving, problem-solving, choice and consequence, social interaction, and manual dexterity. They engage the player much more than a passive experience like watching TV. Games are really helping change society, and I think they will soon help us define who we are as human beings.

Some people believe it’s dangerous to be luring kids away from the ‘real’ things in life, like studies and career …
You have to have a balance. We’re a much more guarded society in the UK today. We don’t like our kids playing football in the streets because of traffic, or playing in the park because they might be kidnapped. So if kids have to stay indoors, I’d rather they played games than watched TV. But parents will have to push them out now and then. Also, people have not realised how big gaming is. They see it as a geeky thing for teenage boys who play violent games in their bedroom. But gaming has now become a mass market entertainment industry — as important culturally, socially and economically, as music and film.

What can the Indian gaming industry leverage as its skills to become a global player?
Indian firms are good at IT and animation; the next logical step is full production. It’s also more economic to produce a game in India than in the UK, US or Japan. India and China are naturally cheaper markets. As we string down the number of people employed in the gaming industry in the UK, I see a lot more collaboration with India. We might outsource not just the art and animation, but the whole programming, design and creativity as well.

How can India become a global player in gaming?
The internet has created a global marketplace where Indian companies are becoming well-established as creators of free-to-play, flash games. There are thousands of portals around the world where you can play bite-sized chunks of games for a few minutes, and then forget about them. From flash games, you could move to other portals, and finally to the super console, which currently drives the global market. The problem is that you lag behind in the distribution of super consoles. There’re not enough of them, and they’re too expensive. Prices are a big restriction for the Indian market. If hardware manufacturers of consoles decide to lower the price — if Nintendo comes in with a cheap console and lower-priced software — I think there will be a boom in India, of both sales and software creation.

What about the attitude that gaming is simply an expensive waste of time for youngsters?
Some older people who have never played any computer games, are scared of them. But as soon as you’ve experienced one, you start to see the educational value and benefits in gaming. I think it’s just a matter of time before the older generation gives way to a generation that has grown up with gaming.

Isn’t there something sexist about having a busty, skimpily-clad female lead?
(Laughs) What can I say, we’re in the entertainment industry. We give people their fantasies. But the new Lara Croft is a little different. She’s not as busty as she used to be, and she’s wearing pants most of the time. We’ve tried to make her less Teflon and more real — we want her to get beaten up a little every now and then. But the world really does love Lara. She’s smart, strong and sexy. Those are all qualities that men like, but guess what — women like them too.