Lionhead Studios - Peter Molyneux Leaves

Sir_Brennus points out that Peter Molyneux has left Lionhead Studios and also relinquished his role as creative head for Microsoft Studios Europe. He will be joining other ex-Lionhead staff at an independent venture called 22 Cans. With the Carter brothers (original founders of Big Blue Box and the Fable series) having left last year, you have to wonder about the future of Lionhead. From Kotaku:

"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.," Molyneux said in a statement to Kotaku. Fable: The Journey is this year's forthcoming Fable game for the Xbox 360 Kinect. Molyneux will continue to be involved in that title as a creative consultant."

More information.

I'm dissapointed.

When I heard the name of the studio I thought it was called "Twenty Toucans". Now THAT is a name for a studio.

Pfft, 22 Cans, whatever.

*braces for the wave of Molyneux hate*

If I were a game designer who had already made some money in the biz and was stuck making Fable for the Kinect, I'd quit and open an indy studio, too.

I don't think working at Microsoft is meant to be exciting, except for this guy.

Originally Posted by Capt. Huggy Face
*braces for the wave of Molyneux hate*

Man, I hate that guy.

It seems that eventually any studio that is usurped by Microsoft sees it's key people leave and the studio wither.

Might have been a good call by Bungie to pull out / sever the bonds.

I recently read about what happened with/at Rare.

Originally Posted by Santos
Man, I hate that guy.

How disappointing.

Originally Posted by hishadow
I don't think working at Microsoft is meant to be exciting, except for this guy.

It's Steve Jobs' alcoholic and much-angrier older brother, an underachiever by nature who is really just trying too hard here. But who could blame him for getting so pumped up? Miami Sound Machine does that to me every time…

MS/LHS has lost a great visionary. I know a lot of people dislike Peter, I think he's a legend.

I would love the guy if he could ever develop a game as he advertises it. He has good ideas but falls short with his new games. I did love his earlier games though.

I heard he's already announced plans to create a new indie RPG franchise.

It's going to be the greatest indie RPG ever made, and it will revolutionize the genre.

iOS indie?

It's fun to hate on Molyneux, Romero and Garriott but they did contribute.

22 Cans. These guys are brits so it's gotta be a drinking reference. I'm looking forward to what they come up with. Populous is among the legends.

The strange thing here is that I have trouble imagening PM doing an indie game (again). I remember the old days of Bullfrog, but they were anything but indie after releasing Popoulos early in their career.

After that their games always were AAA titles with big budgets, innovative grafics and a lot of marketing. This guy has been advertising major titles for 20+ years.

Originally Posted by JuliusMagnus
Pfft, 22 Cans, whatever.

I assume there is word-play included.

22 cans.

22 people, maybe.

What does the term "it is canned" mean ? Usually it is either stored somewhere or simply thron away.

"22 Cans" could therefore mean : these are people Microsoft didn't want. Maybe they are too creative, too much old school or have protested against certain … roadmaps in Microsoft gaming, maybe (I'm purely speculating here).

But names express often more than is visible on the first glance …


The conspiracy theorist in my just stumbled on an expression : "canned lion huning". The source links to this : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canned_hunt

This Wikipedia article on a "canned hunt" says this :

A canned hunt is essentially a trophy hunt in which the animal is kept in a more confined area, such as in a fenced-in area, increasing the likelihood of the hunter obtaining a kill. According to one dictionary, a canned hunt is a "hunt for animals that have been raised on game ranches until they are mature enough to be killed for trophy collections."[1]

And the former company's name was "Lionhead" … Ein Schelm, wer Bφses dabei denkt … (dict.leo.org translated this German proverb as : "Honi soit qui mal y pense. ") …

To me, Peter Molyneux is like George Lucas in the sense that they are fallen angels and have sunk to unrecoverable depths.

In my book, Peter could do nothing wrong ever since Populous 2…..until I played Fable, which I disliked to such an extreme that it eventually turned into irrational hatred, especially after seeing footage of many juvenile elements of the later Fables. In particular the retarded juvenile "farting" was key to landing the death blow.

Personally, I liked Fable1 very much (does this mean that I'm immature and juvenile ? ) - the only real dislike is that the enemies level, too.

As soon as I had found this out, I had stopped playing. Because levelling enemies totally break the feeling of an "achievement" for me. In an role-playing game I just *need* the feeling of an achievement - at one point or other. Giving me auto-levelling enemies gives me the message : "You are not allowed to achieve something." Which is totally … immersion-breaking for me, personally. (Typo : "Immersion-braking", lol)

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
Personally, I liked Fable1 very much (does this mean that I'm immature and juvenile ? ) - the only real dislike is that the enemies level, too.

I didn't like the cartoonish and childish style of Fable and I dind't enjoy the game that much for several reasons. I particularly found the concept of the "poses" to impress people extremely stupid. It was the combination of things like the childish art style, Peter's PR talk, the footage of hand clapping with NPCs, farting in their faces etc. that started to resonate and amplify my initial healthy dislike to pure unhealthy hatred towards the franchise.

Perhaps I am too radical but I just cannot respect any developer who puts handclapping with NPCs and farting in their faces as humorous elements into an RPG,.

Well, I haven't seen farting Orcs and Goblins either so far.
Although it would be more fitting for them.

I actually enjoyed both Fable 1 and 2. Fable 3 wasn't as good though. The thing is: I enjoy them for what they are - light-hearted, humorous RPGs. I play them when I'm in the mood for something relaxing, instead of something that actually requires me to make an effort. I'm not always in PS: T mood where I feel like reading one wall of text after the other.

Originally Posted by Asdraguuhl
…..until I played Fable, which I disliked to such an extreme that it eventually turned into irrational hatred, especially after seeing footage of many juvenile elements of the later Fables. In particular the retarded juvenile "farting" was key to landing the death blow.

Right there with you on that score. I hear that Peter's next project involves building a cyborg, and teaching it to love (and fart); I should add, however, that a guy named Molyneux is my source.