Last month, Lionhead co-founder Peter Molyneux decided to leave the game developer and its owners Microsoft. Now the legendary game developer is speaking out on the reasons he decided to leave what appeared to be a very comfortable job. As it turns out, it was that level of comfort that was part of the reason he decided to depart.
In an interview with Develop, he states that he came to the realization that he had to try something else when someone came over to visit him in his office at Lionhead. Molyneux states:
One day I was at the studio sitting on my chair, in the zone, my eyes closed, my headphones on, blaring music in, trying to think of ideas for Fable The Journey. Suddenly I felt my chair move. I looked around. Standing there was the Microsoft chair adjustment personnel, this nice woman who comes over once a month, fiddling with my seat settings to make sure it was posturepedically correct. I thought; this is insane.
He also states that the last game he really worked on directly was the original Black and White, the first game that Lionhead developed before Microsoft acquired the company. Molyneux added that he felt like he was being pulled in a number of different directions while Lionhead was working with Microsoft on the Fable series of RPGs.
He added:
I was in a creative padded cell. Microsoft was so safe. Microsoft was so nice. You’re so supported. Everything I did couldn’t hurt me, both creatively and physically. The danger was long gone. I had this huge desire to make something truly special, and I felt like I was being suffocated creatively a little bit. That was the moment I realized I had to go.
Molyneux has now co-founded a new game developer, 22Cans, which is working on its first title.