Dev poll: Molyneux is #1 industry "hero"

By Fred Dutton Published 19 May, 2011

Fable creator beats Miyamoto into second.

Fable and Populous mastermind Peter Molyneux is the video game industry's top developer "hero", according to a poll of his peers.

As reported by USA Today, 9000 developers were asked to name their development hero in a PeekScore survey.

The Lionhead boss came out on top, followed by Nintendo talisman Shigeru Miyamoto and Braid creator Jonathan Blow.

Take a look at the top 10 below, then commence debate. Keep it clean.

  1. Peter Molyneux (Populous, Fable)
  2. Shigeru Miyamoto (Mario, Zelda)
  3. Jonathan Blow (Braid)
  4. Will Wright (SimCity, The Sims)
  5. John Carmack (Doom, Quake)
  6. Mike Morhaime (World of Warcraft, StarCraft)
  7. David Braben (Elite)
  8. Sid Meier (Sid Meier's Civilization, Sid Meier's Pirates)
  9. Masaya Matsuura (PaRappa the Rapper)
  10. Dave Jones (Lemmings, GTA)
Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (77) Latest comment 1 year ago

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  • lennon #1 1 year ago

    I still love populous 2.

  • coolbritannia #2 1 year ago

    Oh hell no. More like #1 industry twat.

  • Canyarion #3 1 year ago

    Well, nobody asked me anything..

  • coolbritannia #4 1 year ago

    My industry hero isn't even on the list.

    My #1 is Randy Pitchford.

  • nazzyq #5 1 year ago

    Randy Pitchford is a twat

  • Bradach #6 1 year ago

    i like him but i don't believe anything he says about his games...

  • ukuleleimport #7 1 year ago

    No Chris Sawyer? :o

  • CaptainQuint #8 1 year ago

    Oh god why did they have to go and say that?! Now Peter will DEFO believe is own hype!

  • HurbleBurble #9 1 year ago

    World famous liar, shameless self-promoter and maker of average games beats quietly-spoken, modest Japanese gaming legend shocker.

  • Genyus #10 1 year ago

    "Take a look at the top 10 below, then commence debate. Keep it clean."

    You do realize what people you are dealing with here, right?

  • geeza2020 #11 1 year ago

    meaningless popularity contest is meaningless.

  • Ninja_Tino #12 1 year ago

    No one should ever top Shigs.

  • Bravestinsane #13 1 year ago

    Can we have a vote on EG for the top 10 twats for comments.

    #1 for Coolbritannia


    Peter is a genious to be fair, might speak a lot of crap but it works does it not? His PR techniques are very good, and he has a good history of games, Black and White and Theme Hospital i loved them both.

  • Smoped #14 1 year ago

    David Braben should always be accompanied by Ian Bell on these lists, since they did Elite together and Braben hasn't really made anything influential or noteworthy since then. Though I have to admit Virus had a certain charm to it.

  • Darksjeik #15 1 year ago

    Molyneux is a fraud that hasn't once lived up to his word in the Fable franchise. He basically sold the gaming community a Porsche on paper he but delivered a Hond Civic. He did that not once, not twice but three times.

  • zuul #16 1 year ago

    Masaya Matsuura...?

  • linksdad #17 1 year ago

    Black and White was half a game and Theme hospital a generic god game lite.

  • HyperTails #18 1 year ago

    Look on the bright side. He's British.

    Seriously though, Populous was a good game, though I hated Fable 1, loved Fable 2, and think Fable 3's alright. He just hypes his games up too much.

    There are others i'd rather of seen above him, though.
    Edited by HyperTails at 19/05/11 @ 16:54

  • geeza2020 #19 1 year ago

    link's dad - yeah a god game where you werent actually a god, but where you built a light hearted, slightly comedic hospital from scratch. Almost like, some kind of... theme....hospital

    :\
    Edited by geeza2020 at 19/05/11 @ 16:55

  • KevvyMetal79 #20 1 year ago

    Molyneux!?! Fuck right off.

  • darc #21 1 year ago

    Molyneaux is an interesting voice in the industry. Shame about his games, though. :o

  • Kami #22 1 year ago

    ...

    I don't think we need to point out to developers what is wrong with this picture, surely?

  • Snufkin #23 1 year ago

    Clint Hocking, Gabe Newell, Fumito Ueda, Hideo Kojima and Mr Miyamoto would be my personal top 5. Only one of which features here. This list sucks!

  • Nithron #24 1 year ago

    This has to be a set up.

    The developers have all banded together to make Molyneux even more annoying and egotistical by voting him to the top of this poll, as revenge for all the piracy.

  • agparrot #25 1 year ago

    Let's hope that this is the only area where developers don't agree with gamers, and that actually they are still making games that we want to play, even if we don't agree in entirety with their lists.

  • Smoped #26 1 year ago

    Well, you know, 9000 developers. Vast majority of them must be independent guys. Which probably explains why they rated Jonathan Blow so high.
    And practically everything Molyneux did in Bullfrog was great and/or influential, so he's earned some praise with that stuff.

  • Nevflinn #27 1 year ago

    "As reported by USA Today, 9000 developers were asked to name their development hero in a PeekScore survey. "

    What?! Nine thousand!?

  • Cjail #28 1 year ago

    My heroine is Amy Hanning!

  • Mr_Brown #29 1 year ago

    What about the guys from Besethenda Studios who make the Elders Scrolls series? They should be in there. I would never have Peter Molyneux on the top of the list though. He's donne some great things in the past, but he has definitely lost his way from Fable 2 onwards. He thinks all that Fable needed was a dog companion? Fable as a series counts as one of the biggest missed opotunities to shine this generation. Instead of expanding it into a huge free roaming living world full of quests etc. Instead he made the same Xbox game, but with HD graphics, a dog companion and co-op which was flawed.

    I'd be happy with Miyamoto at the top. But seriously where the hell is Yu Suzuki???

  • kinky_mong #30 1 year ago

    Never has the phrase "lolwut?!" been more appropriate.

  • Eraysor #31 1 year ago

    Theme hospital a generic god game lite.

    This is the most incorrect sentence I HAVE EVER READ

  • addugg #32 1 year ago

    I don't want to be one of those guys who swear on comments but, what the fuck is that shit! A poll of 9000 lionhead emplyees more like.

  • Murton #33 1 year ago

    I suppose if we're taking into account their total achievement and not just recent then Molyneux would make the list but number 1? He was a legend but his last 10 years have been something of a disappointment, he's outright lied about just about every game of the last decade none of which compares to his early stuff anyway.

    Some pretty big names missing from that list too, might be the first poll where results 11-15 are bigger names than the top 10.

  • kaijusama #34 1 year ago

    I'm with Snufkin all the way! Why is Gabe Newell, Fumito Ueda and Hideo Kojima not gracing this list of luminaries? Shocking!

  • Inmediasress #35 1 year ago

    Well they shouldn't have put him on there on the merits of Fabel more like Dungeon keeper.
    Since the old days Moly boy didn't creat anything interesting or groundbreaking.

  • Smoped #36 1 year ago

    He started making promises he couldn't keep the minute he started his own company. Which means to me that he's a great game developer but a terrible exec. He should hire somebody else to boss him around in Lionhead so he could get back to making decent games.

  • tolanri #37 1 year ago

    What about Markus Persson? And many names mentioned in the article should be higher than Molyneux. In fact I believe he (Molyneux) shouldn't be even on the list.

  • the_dudefather #38 1 year ago

    Bullfrog era Peter molyneux is always numbah one with me, but even I think beating Shiguru seems a bit crazy

  • kirankara #39 1 year ago

    "World famous liar, shameless self-promoter and maker of average games beats quietly-spoken, modest Japanese gaming legend shocker."

    Pretty much sums it up nicely.

  • KimboDice #40 1 year ago

    Im flabbergasted!! Sorry but as good as the fable series is peter Molyneux is certainly not number 1. He is number 1 at lying through his front teeth! And where is the godfather of the resident evil series Shinji Mikami? Or what about Hironobu Sakaguchi the creator of final fantasy series? Peter just creates to much false hype for his own games for example in Fable 3 when you become king he said you get to make all these choices that would affect everything as if it was revolutionary. All's you got to do was decide if you would keep promises you made before you become king. And don't even get me started about Milo!!
    Edited by KimboDice at 19/05/11 @ 23:31

  • riz23 #41 1 year ago

    Molyneux was making seminal great games before most of you ignorant nay-sayers were out of nappies. Learn your history before spouting shite. He is British and highly regarded by his peers, stop knocking him. He is used as a PR machine by his company and his publishers yes, but that is business, and that is the media. You don't get given an OBE for nothing you know.
    Edited by riz23 at 19/05/11 @ 18:40

  • smelly #42 1 year ago

    Oh dear.. Seems like my peers are clueless :-)

  • Kanjin #43 1 year ago

    I didn't realize I had an indignation gland, but I do now as it just ruptured.

  • Mister-Wario #44 1 year ago

    I'm surprised Jonathan Blow is so high up the list. Glad, though.

    Also, is Tim Schafer a developer? Because if so, I would put him on there somewhere.
    Edited by Mister-Wario at 19/05/11 @ 18:55

  • The-Jack-Burton #45 1 year ago

    That poll doesn't make any sense. They used something called PeekScore to create this pole, anybody know what that is or how it works. 9000 devs? Doesn't make any sense.

    The guy at #3 has only made one game, Braid, which is great, but he hardly deserves a spot in the top 10. Based on that and the fact that Peter is giant bag of wind who very few gamers seem to take seriously, I will not take this poll seriously.

  • metalangel #46 1 year ago

    How can we keep it clean with such a shit list? King Liar at the top, Jonathan "So hard done by, right" Blow in third, while genuine greats languish near the bottom or are absent altogether.

  • RodHull #47 1 year ago

    Not sure on whether his crown in truly deserved, but people forget the Shigs has developed some truly awful games to balance out the amazing ones he's been behind. I must admit my opinion of him is slightly tarnished by the memory of him moaning about the success if Donkey Kong Country back in 94 and how he thought it was bobbins. I thought it was great so there.

  • natureboy #48 1 year ago

    Why sell-out Peter is first is beyond me. For me i would have had:

    1. Shigeru Miyamoto
    2. David Braben
    3.Will Wright

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #49 1 year ago

    Why all the hate for a man who overhypes his games?

    It's not like we fill every comments section about Sony with hate for them overhyping the PS3?

    ;)

  • coolbritannia #50 1 year ago

    "Can we have a vote on EG for the top 10 twats for comments.

    #1 for Coolbritannia


    Peter is a genious to be fair, might speak a lot of crap but it works does it not? His PR techniques are very good, and he has a good history of games, Black and White and Theme Hospital i loved them both."

    History is right. he hasn't been relevant for almost a decade.

  • byakuya83 #51 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 10:03:41 30-03-2012

  • immateriaux #52 1 year ago

    Frightening story this really. Majority of game developers consider a person who hypes games rather than delivers them a "hero"? That's no hero of mine.

  • DrStrangelove #53 1 year ago

    Where's Randy Pitchford?

  • DrStrangelove #54 1 year ago

    And where's Bobby Kotick? lol

  • jimr9999us #55 1 year ago

    -sigh-

    That list of industry geniuses makes my current status as an unemployed alcoholic bi-polar produce guy all the more depressing.

    And to think my mom told me I could be an astronaut someday...time to boot up Fable 2 and pour some drinks. At least i'll make some virtual coin that way. Thanks Peter for the pleasant distractions over the years, and congrats to everyone who makes a positive contribution to this self destructive universe of ours.

  • Nephirion #56 1 year ago

    No John Romero ^^

  • malloc #57 1 year ago

    It's probably not undeserved for PM to have legendary status in fairness. I think the reason for his #1 compared to Shiggsy is that he's less far away. Shigs is simply too far out of reach for most developers that having him as an inspiration is a too far fetched. With the best will in the world PM's achievements are dwarfed by Shigs, but this poll isn't about that. Just IMHO of course.

  • BlinkeredAxis #58 1 year ago

    @DrStrangelove

    Randy Pitchford should be there. Personally, HaloCE, Borderlands and his Half-life input mean a lot more to me than most of the titles in that top ten. perhaps the voters were holding back to see what kind of an un-mess gearbox can make of Duke Nukem Forever.

  • Tyrhinis #59 1 year ago

    Well, I guess developers will probably vote for people who seem to have a strong influence over 'their' games - 'a Molyneux game', 'a Miyamoto game' etc - it's pretty reasonable that Molyneux is high up on the list.

    I am surprised to see David Braben on there, though. No offence to him, but Elite was 26 years ago. What's he done since then? Oh, yeah, that's right - Kinectimals. Where's The Outsider, hmm?

  • Beano #60 1 year ago

    A case against democracy. Bummer.

  • Haunted_Tree #61 1 year ago

    Molyneux talks a good game ... but rarely delivers it.

  • suicidal_penguins #62 1 year ago

    Weird other devs like him. You'd think his typical "well my last game wasn't very good but my next one gives you massages" stuff would have worn well thin with them by now, it has with the customers. I guess it's the patronising, eccentric cute British-ness that does it for him?

  • Climhazzard #63 1 year ago

    Well thats just a load of tosh. Shigsy is clearly the best ever.

  • immateriaux #64 1 year ago

    Fable > Zelda?
    Er, no, definitely not.

    Who were these 9,000 developers messing about on a people search website anyhow?

  • muttler #65 1 year ago

    No fucking way is Molyneux worthy of such recognition anymore. Once upon a time with Bullfrog games, but Fable is such over hyped and overrated wank. Meier, Carmack and Miyamoto beat the shit out of him all day long.

  • brod #66 1 year ago

    #1 industry loudmouth, perhaps.

  • WhiteWolf95 #67 1 year ago

    We all love to hate Peter and his promises. (In a good way :D )

  • dahsif #68 1 year ago

    Don't worry Hideo; you're still my number one :(

  • GozuTennai #69 1 year ago

    No.9 should be No.1 and No.2 should burn in hell.

  • RodHull #70 1 year ago

    @byakuya83

    When did Mr Molyneux make a comment about the second hand business exactly? I remember a Lionhead employee raising an issue but nothing from PM himself.

  • SvennoJ #71 1 year ago

    Where is the rest of the list?
    Where are Roberta Williams, Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer, Benoît Sokal, Ray Muzyka, Hideo Kojima, Yoshinori Kitase, David Cage.

  • BuckEntropy #72 1 year ago

    Kinda hard to pin down a reason any of these people might be considered a "hero" though?

    Molyneux, well for one thing if he said anything about the current second hand market it's a valid point. There's no other parallel to the economics, but it's also mainly a console issue because the pricing model is so inflated. But after that, maybe people appreciate the fact that PM shoots for the stars, and inspires other people to do the same even if things don't always pan out?

    Miyamoto, well nothing really needs to be said for why he's anyone's hero. But people also tend to forget he hasn't done it all alone, and he's been more producer than designer on a lot of what people think of as 'his'. And let's get real here, is iterating and milking the same 3 or 4 formulas for 25 years really the ultimate achievement to aspire to?

    Blow, surprising for sure but... what I think is that anyone who has ever dealt with the realities of producing a game, see Braid for a game that achieves exactly what it set out to. In design and execution it is without compromise, and every designer can only wish they will ever be able to pull something like that off.

  • mss99 #73 1 year ago

    Peter Molyneux peaked with the original Populous which was a stunning game I would love to play again in it's original format. Everything since then has been a bit of a let down. Populous 2 looked great but I didn't like the way you didn't have access to all the abilities as you gained mana until much later in the game. You might get an abiliy on a new level just to find in a level or two they took it away again and that annoyed me.

    I'd have gone for Fumito Ueda from Team Ico, Jenova Chen from ThatGameCompany and David Cage from Quantic Dream. I think their games have shown innovation and depth. When you play their games you get an emotional response and a sense of immersion rarely experienced in games.

  • FireMonkey #74 1 year ago

    There is a difference between who makes the best games and who is a development hero.

    To me, a development hero doesn't necessarily need to be someone who makes the best games out there or even have had to make a #1 game, but I think they need to inspire others to do so and to push the limits and also to help to make the games development industry a better one to work in.

    I think Peter does that fairly well and I wouldn't be surprised if he is one of the reasons a lot of the devs that voted originally got into games development.
    Edited by FireMonkey at 20/05/11 @ 09:19

  • kjp23 #75 1 year ago

    "That poll doesn't make any sense. They used something called PeekScore to create this pole, anybody know what that is or how it works. 9000 devs? Doesn't make any sense."

    You're right, that doesn't make sense. If you go to the original entry you'll see that USA Today got the whole nature of the list completely wrong. [link url=http://score.peekyou.com/top-10-video-game-development-heroes/
    ]http://score.peekyou.com/top-10-video-ga...[/link]

    The poll of 9,000 developers was done by something called the Develop Conference in 2009. What Peekyou did was take the top ten names on that two year old poll and rank them according to their PeekScores. PeekScores are a number from 1-10 which measures an individual's presence on the web. It's all explained on their blog http://score.peekyou.com It's sort of like Peekyou's equivalent of Google's page rank, only for people instead of web pages.

  • kongzi #76 1 year ago

    My personal developer hero is of course John Romero.

  • Phishfood #77 1 year ago

    I would have voted the guy that decided it would be cool to target someones crotch in the old Fallout games.