“Peter Molyneux. The story of the developer who created the “god simulator” genre” Raphael Luc
Today in the biography book section. It is also an interview book. Close-up of Peter Molyneux, one of the most controversial figures in the world of video games.
A few words about the author. Rafael Luca is a games journalist and writer. His portfolio includes publications for PC Team, Gameplay RPG, PlayMag, Future France, Joypad, PlayStation Magazine, Xbox Magazine, Consoles+ and Joystick. On the bookshelves of gamers you can find books by him, in addition to the one we will discuss in this material. For example, about the history of RPGs, as well as the “Witcher” saga franchise.
Writing a book about the creator of the “god simulator” can be considered an asterisked task for the author, since the life and career of Peter Molyneux is full of disappointments and downfalls. The developer has received near-constant criticism stemming from at least the failure of his Godus Kickstarter campaign, and the internet is home to cheeky interviews and even a parody Twitter account. Peter Molyneux's statements have more than once forced players to wait and wait for the game's release, and Raphael Luca is just one of those users who dreamed to the fullest along with the creator.
We will not retell the chronology of events from Peter's life. You may have heard a lot about the biography of Mr. Molyneux. On the other hand, if you are not familiar with the history of his ups and downs, then the book will help you get to know this person more deeply and not draw any too judgmental conclusions. Alas, the hero of this story had to publicly admit his mistakes, while his personal experiences remained behind the scenes.
In the first chapters, Rafael Luca talks about the childhood and family of Peter Molyneux. You can find out what shaped his character, where the craving for imaginary worlds came from, what from the environment was later reflected in the games, and what difficulties the gaming genius had to go through to grow up.
The author retold the creative and career path of Peter Molyneux through key milestones:
creation of Bullfrog and sale of it to Electronic Arts,
the subsequent creation of Lionhead and its sale to Microsoft,
founding 22Cans and launching the acclaimed games Curiosity: What's Inside the Cube and… Godus.
Rafael Luca approached the writing task philosophically. “To describe Peter’s career, I will use the concept of Giambattista Vico (1668–1744) from his “New Science”, where he divides the history of civilizations into three periods: the age of the gods, the age of heroes and the age of men. But if Vico was talking about humanity, societies and the stages of their evolution, then, in my opinion, this division perfectly illustrates the life of the co-author of Populous, Fable and Syndicate: an explosive (and “divine” in the case of Populous) beginning that immediately brought him to the forefront blueprint for the video game industry, then a flagship RPG series that questioned the hero theme itself (Fable), and his latest, less iconic and sometimes even flops. Three eras, three Molyneux, three studios: Bullfrog, Lionhead, 22Cans,” he writes.
Special attention in the section “The Age of People” is given to the details of Peter Molyneux’s communication with the press: how it affected his reputation and even his health. The author quotes the developer:
“A journalist from Rock Paper Shotgun called me a pathological liar… In the past, I had a habit of telling the press about things we hadn't finished yet, especially when it came to games in the early stages of development. After this interview, it became clear that I needed to stop, that the world was no longer the same: every time I spoke with journalists, everything I said was perceived as a promise, and not as a discussion of some idea. I loved just talking to the press: “You know, we had this idea, we’re thinking about this concept.” Right after the Rock Paper Shotgun interview, everything stopped.”
It is unlikely that such an explanation of the situation from Molyneux is capable of pacifying angry gamers and rolling back their expectations. However, this reveals the developer’s drama, as do his other public statements about errors and lack of this or that experience.
By the way, Rafael Luca also shared how the 22Cans studio ended up on the crowdfunding platform, quoting Peter himself: “They called us from Kickstarter and said: “You are an independent studio, and we want to launch Kickstarter in the UK. Maybe you would be interested in running a crowdfunding campaign?” Kickstarter project? No one at 22Cans even considered this possibility. After all the time we spent developing and maintaining Curiosity, we were thinking about the next step. The Kickstarter people showed us the funds that had been raised in previous campaigns and the success of all those games, so they convinced us. We were also going to start a crowdfunding campaign, but at that time we didn’t have a real concept for the game, just a general idea, something like: “Why don’t we try to come up with a god simulator for Kickstarter?”
Such is the evil of marketing. If you are a dreamer by nature, try to be careful.
The video game industry will always be at the intersection of business and creativity, sometimes very extreme: immersion in a game can touch the Shadow itself, the deepest experiences of the player, and come from the same Shadow of the creator. And at the same time, the treasured code is of a purely technical nature – not to mention legal contracts and public promises, which also carry their own force. To some extent, this is exactly what the book is about.
Read on if you are interested in learning about Peter Molyneux and seeing his story through the eyes of a professional writer and journalist.
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