Peter Molyneux leaves Microsoft and Lionhead

[Vergil'sBitch]

Peter Molyneux leaves Microsoft and Lionhead

Veteran UK developer Peter Molyneux has made the shock announcement that he is to leave Lionhead Studios, the company he founded, and join independent company 22 Cans.

'It is with mixed emotions that I made the decision to leave Microsoft and Lionhead Studios, the company that I co-founded in 1997, at the conclusion of development of Fable: The Journey,' said the famed British developer in a statement to website Kotaku.
'I remain extremely passionate and proud of the people, products and experiences that we created, from Black & White to Fable to our pioneering work with Milo and Kate for the Kinect platform,' he added.

'However, I felt the time was right to pursue a new independent venture. I'd like to thank the team at Lionhead, as well as our partners at Microsoft Studios for their support, dedication and incredible work over the years.'

Later he added on Twitter: 'I have left the lovely amazing Microsoft and lionhead. Now for something really amazing, scary and brave a new company called 22 Cans.'
It's not clear what 22 Cans is, but the obvious assumption is that it's some kind of independent studio similar to famous UK developers Bullfrog Productions and Lionhead - both of which Molyneux founded.

In the Bullfrog days Molyneux oversaw classics such as Populous, Syndicate, and Theme Park, before selling the studio to EA. He left Bullfrog shortly after and founded Lionhead, where he worked on PC titles Black & White and The Movies, as well as the Fable franchise.

Microsoft bought Lionhead in 2006 and later made Molyneux head of Microsoft Studios Europe, putting him in charge of Rare as well.
Although he hasn't said why he's left Molyneux has publically voiced his disappointment with Fable III and seems to have been stung by criticism of forthcoming Kinect game Fable: The Journey (which he will still work on as creative consultant).

The most significant reason behind his departure though is likely to be the apparent cancellation of Milo & Kate, which was shown with great fanfare at E3 2009 but has since been disowned by Microsoft. The game features a simulated onscreen child, which you could interact with verbally and with Kinect.

Whether Molyneux will try to resurrect the concept at 22 Cans remains to be seen, but it seems impossible to imagine he won't be back in the limelight very soon. ​

So I want to know, where does this leave the Fable series? Will Lionhead carry it on without Peter at the helm (obviously I mean when Fable 4 is developed, if it ever is)?

 

[Dark Drakan]

Lionhead continues without him as he was the co-founder so someone else will likely take over his role. They have also lost some key Fable staff in the last few days (Fable franchise art director John McCormack, technical director Guillaume Portes and executive producer Jeremie Texier) who have joined Another Place Productions created by former Big Blue Box founders Dene and Simon Carter.

 

[V]

It will continue if there's money to be made out of the franchise which I'd say is a given.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Only thing im worried about is the costs of development of new titles Fable: The Journey (Kinect Exclusive) and Fable Heroes (XBLA Exclusive) and how well they will sell. As fan feedback towards the games has been mostly negative and they have narrowed down their audience to those with Kinect and those with Xbox Live/Gold Membership and ability to purchase things off the marketplace. Hope these titles dont cause any damage to Lionhead with money losses and alienating fans from the franchise.

 

[Vergil'sBitch]

Only thing im worried about is the costs of development of new titles Fable: The Journey (Kinect Exclusive) and Fable Heroes (XBLA Exclusive) and how well they will sell. As fan feedback towards the games has been mostly negative and they have narrowed down their audience to those with Kinect and those with Xbox Live/Gold Membership and ability to purchase things off the marketplace. Hope these titles dont cause any damage to Lionhead with money losses and alienating fans from the franchise.

Well, they're alienating this fan, I know that much.
I've just found out about Fable Heroes... *Whimpers*

 

[Angelo Credo]

By the gods I hope this means Peter learns how to make good games again.
And by good games I mean I hope he actually makes the further 3 Black & White games he promised us.
Dungeon Keeper 3 would not go amiss either.

 

[Angel]

Well I'll be probably the only person sad to see him leave - I genuinely like his enthusiasm for the Fable series, his drive, his ideas, his completely over-the-top bigging-up of stuff we'll never see happen. I could totally see what he was trying to do with the Fable series and truly believed (and still do) that if they do get to number 6, everyone will see what it was they originally planned to create but took 5 games to get there.

I hope this new venture of his works out really well for him

 

[V]

I've followed his work with the "god sim" since Bullfrog's Syndicate and Populous (awesome games!) and what has bothered me is that they seemingly ditched Black & White in favour of the Fable series. I am a much bigger fan of B&W than I ever was of Fable, buggy though it is. I also want another B&W game.

These days though, we all know that when Peter promises something, to take it with a pinch of salt :lol:

 

[Dark Drakan]

Well I'll be probably the only person sad to see him leave - I genuinely like his enthusiasm for the Fable series, his drive, his ideas, his completely over-the-top bigging-up of stuff we'll never see happen. I could totally see what he was trying to do with the Fable series and truly believed (and still do) that if they do get to number 6, everyone will see what it was they originally planned to create but took 5 games to get there.

I hope this new venture of his works out really well for him

I liked Peter and his ideas and enthusiasm were second to none but he just didnt have the tools or the budgets to pull off those ideas. If he had a great product first and then was asked to be spokesperson for it he would be one of the best in the business. Just a shame he spoke about the ideas first before having the product anywhere near close to how he envisioned the final product. I hope he returns to his roots and stops attempting gimmicks that the game industry are not ready to fully adopt yet.