Molyneux: I need to prove I deserve BAFTA

By Johnny Minkley Published 16 March, 2011

Joining ranks of movie greats "just insane".

This year's recipient of the prestigious BAFTA Fellowship, Peter Molyneux, has told Eurogamer TV that the honour means: "Now prove you deserve this award; prove you really are good at what you do."

Speaking to us exclusively after the award was announced, the Lionhead Studios boss said this recognition of his career "drives [him] on" and, as a games designer, he remains "incredibly motivated".

Molyneux will formally receive the Fellowship at this evening's GAME British Academy Video Games Awards in London, following in the footsteps of last year's recipient, Nintendo great Shigeru Miyamoto, and legends of cinema including Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg and Alfred Hitchcock.

"I can't even begin to compare myself to Alfred Hitchcock and all that stuff," he said. "It's just insane to even think about it."

The Fellowship caps a glittering month for Molyneux, having also received a lifetime achievement award at GDC 2011.

"Although every award you get is a wonderful sensation – and I'll say now, it's not just for me it's the whole of the people I've worked with – there is something magical about receiving a BAFTA mask, because it's part of our culture and has been part of our culture since I was a kid."

Molyneux revealed that the first person he told about the Fellowship was his wife. "She immediately said, 'Do I get to go to the ceremony now?' and went off and started ordering stuff. And then I told my mum, and then my son.

"But there were these very strict rules about not telling anyone. And telling my mother – I'm sure she won't mind me saying this – is there's the bridge circle that would know within five minutes and before you know it, it would be on some website somewhere. So I had to keep it to that, but it was a wonderful thing to say to people."

For more on Molyneux and the BAFTAs, check out the latest episode of Eurogamer Asks, below.

EGTV Asks: Does gaming need the BAFTAs?

Picture of Johnny.

About Johnny Minkley

Johnny Minkley is a veteran games writer and broadcaster, former editor of Eurogamer TV, VP of gaming charity SpecialEffect, and hopeless social media addict.

Read more articles from Johnny by visiting the Johnny Minkley archive page.

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Comments (27) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • metalangel #1 1 year ago

    Any time you're ready, Peter.

  • Drygore #2 1 year ago

    Well deserved! A legend is what he is. Imo. Also a really nice guy in private!

  • KyleHyde #3 1 year ago

    you're getting a bit too emotional, peter. baftas are meaningless.

  • mcreddie #4 1 year ago

    You should definitely win a bafta for your work on Mylo....

    That was in no way a COMPLETE waste of time.
    Edited by mcreddie at 16/03/11 @ 15:15

  • Skooch #5 1 year ago

    ^ WTF!

  • superstu1337 #6 1 year ago

    What has Molyneux created in games? An unimaginative fantasy land that's been done 500 times before and an extremely boring game mechanic. Wow, how amazing.
    Edited by superstu1337 at 16/03/11 @ 15:31

  • Derblington #7 1 year ago

    Simple combat and a dog, actually.

  • redneon Verified Programmer, SUMO Digital #8 1 year ago

    As much as he hasn't done much of note in recent years, I find it really hard to reach the level of utter contempt for him that some people have because some of my happiest childhood memories are of playing Bullfrog games.

  • Preztail #9 1 year ago

    Well Deserved Fable 2 and 3 are superb games a great deal better than the snore fest that is oblivion in my opinion

  • Centrifugal #10 1 year ago

    I'll be honest, I really disliked Fable III. The premise was fantastic; leading a revolution against your brother and uniting Albion. What I got was a small, angry Welsh bloke, some dissenting army fellow and a little neighboring nation of deux ex machinas. It felt like half a game, was incredibly rushed and it's as if Lionhead couldn't be bothered to hire real writers so they just went into The Sun offices and borrowed a couple of their workers for a few hours.

    I loved the first Fable game to bits, and liked the second despite its flaws. Which made the fact that Fable III was awful all the more painful. Maybe you did a lot for the industry years ago, Molyneux, but your recent work has been average at best.

  • jimr9999us #11 1 year ago

    He deserves a BAFTA just for Dungeon Keeper.

  • Natas_Enasni #12 1 year ago

    Molyneux does not deserve nor does he care about any contempt some pricks may have for him. He made Syndicate. He made Dungeon Keeper. He is a fucking gaming legend; and no amount of bitching will change that.

  • Mister-Wario #13 1 year ago

    True. But he HAS hyped some of his past works up unnecessarily. In my opinion, one should never overhype a game because it has to then live up to impossible expectations. And we feel underwhelmed even if the game is good.

    Still, I think Fable and Black and White, while not to my taste, were very good game.

  • RealityCheque #14 1 year ago

    You can't live off past glory. Syndicate may have been fan-bloody-tastic, it was also FIFTEEN BLOODY YEARS AGO. Dungeon Keeper? Also awesome, also more than a decade ago.

    Fable was ok, Fable II was meh - when Peter promised us "the best game ever". If he learned to keep his bloody mouth shut and spend more time ensuring what he wants to put in his games are in his games than telling us about it (and thus providing more disappointment) then maybe the latest games he's made would also be of the same high standard as Syndicate.

  • Phishfood #15 1 year ago

    "is there's the bridge circle that would know within five minutes and before you know it, it would be on some website somewhere"

    WHAT?

  • kangarootoo #16 1 year ago

    "I can't even begin to compare myself to Alfred Hitchcock and all that stuff"

    Well I'm glad we cleared that one up.

  • LetsGo #17 1 year ago

    The trouble I find with him is that his games have got progressively worse over the years.

    Black and White 2 was awful, fable 2 was OK but fable 3 was horrid. Perhaps that's why its only up for one gong.... (and that's for audio which was superb!)

  • butler` #18 1 year ago

    What 90% of the vitrol-spitting anti-Molyneux crowd seem to forget is that Peter Molyneux is a games designer.

    He's very good at it, too. And he's played a very big role in the UK video games industry for a great many years.

  • Murton #19 1 year ago

    @RealityCheque

    Reading the article I knew exactly what I was going to say and you have already said it pretty much to the letter. +1 for you good sir.

  • Darksjeik #20 1 year ago

    Molyneux is the biggest name, worst designer in gaming the world over. It's utterly amazing how someone can release a trilogy of games that failed to deliver what was promised in interviews each and every time and STILL manages to be taken seriously. fable III especially felt like it was designed for toddlers. I'm not saying the man is devoid of imaginative talent. He's just never succeeded in putting it into a great game.
    Edited by Darksjeik at 16/03/11 @ 18:28

  • Pirotic #21 1 year ago

    All you younglings who can't fathom why he's held in such high regard, get an Amiga 500 emulator and grab any of the early days bullfrog software. Most of it was years ahead of anything else and many defined genres which remain popular to this day.

    The guy has done enough.

    Oh, and Dungeon Keeper!

  • Kaminari #22 1 year ago

    The Molyneux doesn't need to compare himself to Alfred Hitchcock. He already knows he's insanely much better than all that stuff.

  • Kaminari #23 1 year ago

    @Pirotic

    Yeah, Populous and Powermonger were great. That was 20 years ago.

  • andy10 #24 1 year ago

    Peter, Peter, Peter. You have absolutely nothing to prove. But another Dungeon Keeper, Black & White or Populous would be fantastic. Thanks.

  • orangpelupa #25 1 year ago

    oh peter.... just release Black and White 3 please :D
    offcourse i hope you can Push Microsoft to NOT make it xbox exclusive ;)

    will be fun too if it support Move/Kinect/Wiimote on PC.

  • DRUNK3N-_-DRAGON #26 1 year ago

    molyneux is a dick

  • Beano #27 1 year ago

    "Molyneux: I need to prove I deserve BAFTA"

    At least you are right on that one, Peter