Kotaku writes: "Peter Molyneux, one of the most respected video game developers in the world and one of the top creative minds on the Xbox team, is leaving Microsoft and Lionhead Studios, Kotaku has learned."
Peter bash him but I've always been a fan of his energy and frankness
Good or bad Peter was never scared to speak his mind.
It's a shame that the GDC interviews will be the last time we see him.
IMO he was easily one of the most entertaining figures in gaming. Hope this doesnt effect Fable down the line in a negative way. But at age 52 I can see anyone wanting to pursue other things.
He made a good symbol of Kinect, really; Decent results, but not any where near the herculean promises and hype created by faked presentations* and (literal) circus acts at E3. His overpromises were very representative of the sort of things we were shown at E3 2009 and 2010.
I think it will effect fable in a good way, I think he's largely responsible for the way fable is going and now he's jumping ship.
I hope fable will get back to the way it like fable 1. Maybe that's the plot of fable: the journey. Theresa gets back the spire makes a wish and destroys the whole kingdom sending them back(not as in back in time but as in having to start al over again) to the age of heroes.
No pistols or rifles, no magic gloves.
And fable 4 could be the story of the Court returning to Albion and The Hero and Scythe have to find a way to destroy them, starting an adventure outside of Albion thus allowing exploration across their still Unnamed and unknown to us World(Their Earth)
I really like Molyneux. He's done some amazing games. My only issue I ever really had with him is that he always made BIG promises with hig games and usually underdelivered. They were still great games, just missing a lot of features he wanted. He always had some great ideas though. Maybe some day he can finally fit them all in.
I just think like a kotaku poster said , in the end , his ideas are bigger than what he delivers.
I like the guy , but i can't say sadly that i've enjoyed anything he released after Dungeon Keeper , except maybe Black and White with strongly mixed feelings .
I do wish however that other folks i do find more talented , had and used his wild ideas better .
Wich kinda proves even to me , how extraordinary he still truly is .
Thank you for Fable 1 and 2 and for Black & White too. I hope he's leaving because of the nonsensical way that Microsoft is treating Fable, but knowing Peter, he was probably the one that started that abomination that is Fable The Journey
I don't think Peter was every a 'corporate suit' so found it odd he was promoted to that sort of position in Microsoft.
I think Microsoft's reliance on hitting deadlines stifled Peter's creativity, so I really hope he goes on to join or form an independent dev, that is either PC focused or multiplat. And he gets his hands properly dirty in the development process again.
Just to start an incredibly unlikely and unfounded rumour, but... Coincidence that Peter Molyneux and Dave Jaffe both leave their studios at nearly the same time????? Watch this space for 'Twisted Metal Black and White'!!! :)
Whatever platform he ends up delivering on, someone needs to give him a truckload of money, and give him a few years to really develop a game that meets his 'vision'.
Hopefully when they say independent venture that won't mean he's going to start making small budget XBLA games like most talented devs seem to be doing these days -_-
I don't know how I feel about his departure though. Between most of Rare's key members leaving, these recent Lionhead departures, Bungie buying themselves out, etc. Microsoft have to do something STAT. It's clear that something isn't right in the development culture of all of these teams. They have to get their crap together and start treating their teams better or something, because they are running out of talented people.
Its about time he walks away. He's a loudmouth like Gabe Newell always spewing garbage from his mouth. Very little of what Molyneux said would happen with the Fable series actually happened. Instead of each game getting better than the last, they got worse.
When I watched the interview with gamereactor, he really seemed exhausted, tired and old. I don't think he will find a new job with so much opportunities like he had before.
It is sad to see a man have to leave a company he built in order to do the things he wants. Despite all the hype he built for himself, I still enjoyed the Fables, thanks Peter. It was fun.
SOME of the people posting above should honestly show more respect. Unless they've developed games like Populous, Black&White, Theme Park/Hospital, Syndicate, Fable and The Movies, they have no place to criticise in the way I'm reading it. Peter is by no means perfect and his games are ALWAYS flawed, but he is an industry legend.
your argument is diotic at best . By that logic , with almost none of us having developped any game , we shouldnt even be allowed to criticize turds like daikatana
he fell a long way with empty promises in his game franchises. If only he had kept the rhetoric down and stopped making these wild claims about Fable, perhaps people wouldn't be scrutinizing everything he says as BS.
I think this will be a good move for Peter and MS to be honest. Peter has a very creative mind but he really seemed to be getting far to wrapped up in these very high minded "relationship" based concepts for the Fable games and he honestly seemed to take any criticism far too personal, but never seemed to learn from it of late. Almost like he had blinders on and just wanted to do what he wanted to do. Going off and enjoying some time away hopefully will recharge Peter and he can come back in a better frame of mind.
As for MS and Fable... well the book is still out on Fable Journey but clearly the franchise seems to have lost steam and direction in its most recent offerings. And let us not forget Fable Heroes which has to be the clearest sign that Fable was not going in a good direction.
You cant look at a minigame that is coming to the XBLA and say somethings lost its way. Pubgames was similar to this in the aspect that the money you made in that game on XBLA carried over to Fable 2. This is kind of the same thing, but a beat'em up like Castle Crashers that will carry things over to Journey.
I love the Fable franchise and I'm glad he dreamed big, maybe he couldn't deliver on everything, but at least he tried. Which is more then I can say for a lot of people in the industry.
I really do like Peter, I find him incredibly likable and yes he did have some big dreams which isn't bad at all. I am still hopeful Fable the Journey will deliver a great experience.
I wish Peter nothing but the best. I enjoyed listening to him talk about his games with the passion of someone who loved what the did.
People like to hate on the guy, but he is a true icon in the industry. I also see a lot of people claiming it was Microsoft that pushed Kinect on Peter, when in actuality Peter doesn't like standard controllers anymore. If anything, I'd guess Microsoft wanted more traditional Fable game but with some Kinect integration and Peter wants all Kinect all the time.
I respect the heck out of the guy and even though he doesn't get a lot of respect in a place like this, there is no doubt his peers in the actual industry admire and respect him greatly, which is all that counts.
His new company is called 22 Cans, I'm sure we haven't heard the last of him, he'll probably work with Kinect again at some point, now he'll just have some freedom to do what he wants.
It was to the point where he was just more of a figure head at Lionhead, the co-founder is still there and I think Peter just wanted to leave on his own terms. Had Fable Journey launched and then flopped and then he were to leave, people might assume he was pushed out or fired or left over it. Him leaving beforehand is really just him doing things his own way.
I think the industry needs more dreamers like him, we have loud mouths like Jaffe and Cliffy B, but no real dreamers, even if you cant totally give us what is promised, its always important to dream.
In an industry so full of unfulfilled promises, it seems only Peter's are ever thrown back into his face, not all the other hundreds upon hundreds of broken promises and straight up lies.
I for one am thankful for all the games he's created, I love the world of Fable, Black And White was fantastic. God speed Peter. Thanks for everything.
*Edit* @NYC_Gamer This whole generation has been over hyped/broken promises. Yet all people seem to do is list this guys. We could fill a notebook full of broken promises from people in the industry. At least Peter is a dreamer, seems like one of the nicer guys in the industry that always tried to think and dream so we could all have a better experience.
Would you rather him not try? I wouldn't. I'm glad he tried, sometimes limited by what your working with, but you've got to at least try. So many devs simply phone it in.
There is nothing wrong with dreamers but dude always over hyped/promised things and couldn't deliver then he would come out and bash his own software after he hyped it all up himself.Molyneux gets too excited/ahead and often gets caught up.
He is an "icon" in the game industry, but unfortunately, icons don't always mean good things. His style of flat-falling promises and hype are the bane of the industry; an industry that can no longer seem to tell the difference between production values and hype, versus quality gameplay mechanics.
When opportunity knocks you have to answer. The guy made too many promises with the Fable franchise, I hope MS can find somebody else to replace him. Btw I'm not bashing Peter, good luck in his future endeavors but I wants somebody that can take fable, and move forward with it. Or create a new Ip entirely from the Lionhead team create a new game instead of pondering about it this entire generation. Anyway, good luck to you Peter, hope you're more more successful.
Good riddance! Though it's weird that he would leave in the middle of a project that he's so passionate about. Watching his interviews about "Fable: The Journey", he had a childlike excitement about the game and breaking new ground with Kinect.
Good news for Peter, Fable is on a downward trend with each game getting drastically worse and he never seemed comfortable on stage and in the press being a pitchman for Microsoft products. It will be interesting to see what he comes up with next without the handcuffs.
"Just a matter of time, I suppose."
I really like Molyneux. He's done some amazing games. My only issue I ever really had with him is that he always made BIG promises with hig games and usually underdelivered. They were still great games, just missing a lot of features he wanted. He always had some great ideas though. Maybe some day he can finally fit them all in.
Will be interesting who takes the lead next, hopefully they will be willing to bring back Black and White
Oh no,what will happen to Fable 4 buttonless combat now?
Thank you for Fable 1 and 2 and for Black & White too. I hope he's leaving because of the nonsensical way that Microsoft is treating Fable, but knowing Peter, he was probably the one that started that abomination that is Fable The Journey