Sir Ian Livingstone, co-founder of Games Workshop and creator of the Fighting Fantasy gamebook series, told Portuguese press the title of his upcoming book at the Comic Con Portugal press conference: Tomb of the Golden Skull.
“It’s called Tomb of the Golden Skull and you heard it here first,” he told the room. “I’ve told Portugal before I’ve told the UK, that’s funny.” Then, almost to himself: “And I bet I’ll stop there as my publisher will go crazy.”
The story is set in southern Allansia, in a place called Arantis that extends into Snakelands. “And of course the world is going to end and you have to be the saviour of the land,” he said. The cover artwork is by Carl Kopinski, who illustrated the recent UK hardback editions of Assassins of Allansia and The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.
Ian also said he hopes Porto Editora will publish a Portuguese edition: “Hopefully Porto Editora will be publishing it next year, maybe. If they like it, hopefully they do. I’m very happy with it.” Porto Editora began re-releasing classic Fighting Fantasy titles in Portugal in 2025 under their Bertrand Editora imprint. The UK release is confirmed for 27 August 2026.
In the same press conference, Ian also confirmed that Hidetaka Miyazaki, the creator of Dark Souls and Elden Ring, attributed Fighting Fantasy as one of his inspirations: “It’s Hidetaka Miyazaki who made Dark Souls and Elden Rings. He attributed our gamebooks to inspiring him to want to do that. I know many other games makers who said they were brought up on our books. Kind of like almost a gateway drug to interactive entertainment.”
Read my full interview with Sir Ian Livingstone at Comic Con Portugal 2026, where he discussed his writing process, the value of failure, and 50 years at Games Workshop.
In partnership with MoshBit Gaming.
