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Molyneux: industry wasn't ready for Milo & Kate

"It was the wrong concept for what this industry currently is."

Lionhead's aborted Kinect project Milo & Kate wasn't axed due to any technical limitations, but because the market at large wasn't ready for what it had to offer, so says creator Peter Molyneux.

Speaking in an interview with VG247, Molyneux explained that the game's core concept was totally at odds with current industry trends.

"The problem with Milo wasn't the ambition," he said.

"It wasn't the ambition or the technology; it was none of that. I just don't think that this industry is ready for something as emotionally connecting as something like Milo.

"The real problem with Milo, and this is a problem we had lots of meetings over, was where it would be on the shelves next to all the computer games. It was just the wrong thing. It was the wrong concept for what this industry currently is.

"Maybe this industry one day won't be like that, but at this particular time, having a game that celebrates the joy of inspiring something and you feel this connection, this bond; it was the wrong time for that."

Molyneux added that some of the Milo tech has since made it into forthcoming franchise spin-off Fable: The Journey.

"There was a lot of technology that was in Milo that's now in The Journey, but it's just not this delightful celebration of youth.

"What we were trying to achieve with Milo was this key thing: the most powerful story I could possibly tell is a story that reminds you of your own childhood. We've all had times in our childhood, common experiences when we felt down, and we felt up, or we celebrated doing something for the first time, and I loved that thought."

The Milo & Kate project was first shown off at E3 2009. However, a year later Microsoft announced that it was only a tech demo and wouldn't be seeing a retail release.

Earlier this month Molyneux announced he was leaving Lionhead, and Microsoft, to work at new start-up 22 Cans.