Eidos creative boss Ian Livingstone has slammed the UK government on its funding of the games industry.

Livingstone complained that the government denies the industry key investment. "The UK government would rather see our great industry go into decline than help it maintain its prominent position in the world, and that is madness," he told The Guardian.

"We're still seen as the red-headed stepchild of the creative industries, one notch up from pornography in the eyes of most of the establishment.

"They forget that half of the world and half of the UK's population play games. Games help define who we are as human beings - they are as important, culturally and socially, as music and films."

Eidos owner SCi is to be bought out by Warner Bros studios.