E3: Microsoft promotes Peter Molyneux

By Games Industry.biz Published 4 June, 2009

Creative direction of MS Game Studios.

Microsoft has promoted Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux to creative director of Microsoft Game Studios in Europe, GamesIndustry.biz reports.

Molyneux will oversee the creative output of all internal studios as well as Microsoft's third-party development partners, acting in a leadership role to help ideas come to fruition, as well as ensuring better communication and understanding within the group.

"The best way for us to make sure our platforms evolve in a way that enables the best creative experiences is to make sure our creative leaders are closely tied into the work that's going on with the platform team," said Phil Spencer, general manager of Microsoft Game Studios, speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz.

"What we're asking Peter to do is a creative director role for us in Europe, overseeing all of the creative work that goes on at our studios in the UK and Europe, and the different projects that we have with external partners.

"His role there is to not only help the collaborations and to bring both the thinking from that region back to the platform and Microsoft Game Studios as different things are incubating and being worked on, but the reverse is also true, of taking global knowledge of our platform efforts and different efforts at MGS and help provide context and guidance to those teams."

Molyneux said the promotion isn't about leaving his own mark on other studio's titles, but rather helping internal and external talent realise their creative visions within the Microsoft development ecosystem.

"What you're not going to see is ten Peter Molyneux games. The value of this role is for someone like myself going in and making those little tiny lights of an idea shine as brightly as possible and ensuring everybody within the organisation clearly understands why we're making those titles, the purpose of those titles and their importance to Microsoft overall.

"All I'm going to be doing is making sure those lights are as bright as possible. People at Rare and other European studios are super, super bright and creative people and I'll learn as much about design from them as they would from me."

Molyneux said he hopes to help foster the passion of individuals, and in turn push Microsoft's talent to drop preconceived ideas about game design and strive for innovation.

"I'm definitely not going to go in and say 'this is a dumb idea' and 'this is a good idea'. I'm more about making sure they really are doing the experiences they're passionate about. Because passion is really central.

"That's probably going to involve innovation, I'm going to be pushing them more on the innovation side, especially with Project Natal, and saying, 'look, don't think you've got all of your design comforts here any more, let's think of a new way of doing all that.'"

He also made it clear that he will still remain studio boss of Lionhead, and continues to work on the two titles currently in development at the studio.

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Comments (36) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • berelain #1 3 years ago

    actually, of all the people that could be in the role of Creative Director, I think PM suits it well. He's such an idealist, but that might be what devs need to give them a boost to create those more imaginative, unusual games. So long as Microsoft Games Studio's let them, of course.

  • MeBrains #2 3 years ago

    creative director, aye? that sounds awfully corporate...

  • Pirotic #3 3 years ago

    He funded Lionhead out of his own pocket for a good few years to be fair to him.

  • Les #4 3 years ago

    Not really a fan of anything Peter created since Populous and Theme park but I think it's good to have someone with roots in the development community in such a role at Microsoft, rather than someone that climbed the internal management ranks.

  • Domovoi #5 3 years ago

    Sounds like a great move. We'll see.

  • rhubarbandcustard #6 3 years ago

    I like Peter Molyneux. Whenever I see him in interview he always comes across as a rather camp, over grown school boy.

    Much like myself in fact.

  • Negotiator #7 3 years ago

    Pete with the help of Microsoft will take gaming interaction to new levels of immersion, and create entertainment only possible using Natal.

  • Xerx3s #8 3 years ago

    "What we're asking Peter to do is a creative director role for us in Europe, overseeing all of the creative work that goes on at our studios in the UK and Europe, and the different projects that we have with external partners."

    And here I was thinking that the UK was part of Europe.

  • alimokrane #9 3 years ago

    best decision EVER!

  • Whatsfor #10 3 years ago

    Negotiator
    04-Jun-09 09:07:04
    Pete with the help of Microsoft will take gaming interaction to new levels of immersion, and create entertainment only possible using Natal.

    You should be in PR, HAHAHAHAHAHA! What is your employee number?

    Being serious though I think the role will suit PM well.

  • spekkeh #11 3 years ago

    I'm a fucking psychic I am, I wrote this at the end of the MS conference.

    The problem is that this is not usable for games in the near future and in that respect I don't think Microsoft should have included it in the press conference, but I can't really blame Molyneux for that. Likely, he will try to incorporate this into a game and it will be horribly botched. Actually I think Molyneux should stop making games and MS should just pay him as a video game visionary, creating demoes of exciting new directions, that other devs can then capitalize on. He'd have my application letter and resume within nanoseconds too.

    Shit. Now I have to write an application letter, and I kind of like my work now.

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #12 3 years ago

    Sounds like an ideal fit, congrats Peter. Good move by MS.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #13 3 years ago

    It's probably a good thing that Microsoft are trying to solidify their position in Europe. Here's hoping he can kick Rare into shape a bit.

  • kangarootoo #14 3 years ago

    Sounds like a good move I think.


    "creative director, aye? that sounds awfully corporate..."

    Really? Its a very common title throughout the industry. Pretty much every small indie dev has a creative director.


    @Negotiator

    You are clearly some teenager who is a getting a few free t-shirts to stomp around these pages and wax lyrical about Natal. However, the thing you seem to miss is that if your role is bloody obvious to everyone (as it is, due to your ludicrous lack of objectivity and "company line" sentences... or maybe you were given those sentences by someone who knows you can't string together sentences of your own) it actually likely does more harm than good.

    Whoever hired you to do this should fire you, 'cos you are crap at it.

  • gmmonkey #15 3 years ago

    Good on him. I think he'd be pretty good at that. His enthusiasm rubs off on ppl.

  • Negotiator #16 3 years ago

    So a positive reaction to a innovative product is not allowed is it?, yes I've been having a bit of fun with some of the things Ive posted, but I do think Natal is a step forward for gaming.

  • Eraysor #17 3 years ago

    Well he proved he can make awesome games with Fable 2 and quite a few classics before that, so good luck to him.

  • kangarootoo #18 3 years ago

    @Negotiator

    "So a positive reaction to a innovative product is not allowed is it?"

    There is a difference between a positive reaction and repetative brainwashed marketing talk.

    No game or technical feature on the planet is without its flaws, yet your comments utterly fail to acknowledge any of the negatives of Natal.

    I, and many others, have written both positive things about it, AND negative things about it, because both positives and negatives can be observed by anyone viewing Natal with even remotely objective eyes.

    Try, just as an exercise, listing what you see as the major flaws or concerns of the system we have all seen so far (considering we have really barely seen anything).... unless your contract won't allow it of course ;)

  • Spydy #19 3 years ago

    Moly is hit and miss, but good for him.

  • MORZTAN #20 3 years ago

    Letīs hope he is more honest to his bosses than the public

  • kangarootoo #21 3 years ago

    @MORZTAN

    I've been critical of PM in the past on numerous occasions, but I don't think he has ever set out to deceive.

    I think he genuinely just can't (until now perhaps) separate what is actually made and working from what he would LIKE to make.

    The promised features we keep hearing about are a result of an apparently direct connection between his scratch pad for new ideas and concepts... and his public voice. Everybody does it from time to time, its just that people usually learn with experience to stop doing it :)

  • stevetuck #22 3 years ago

    He invented the dog you know :)

  • schnide #23 3 years ago

    "What you're not going to see is ten Peter Molyneux games."

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

  • mr_chimp #24 3 years ago

    He loves what he does, and loves to get that across to people. He's a tremendous ambassador for the industry, even if the sheen of his ideas has become rather tarnished by reality. Look forward to seeing what he contributes and what directions he guides MSG down.

  • alirennie #25 3 years ago

    Good to see people such a Peter Molyneux who obviously has a genuine love for games of all shapes and sizes getting into the higher echelons of a industry that is increasingly corporate in nature; so i guess fair play to pete and MS. Lets just hope he ain't no uncle tom!

  • makeamazing #26 3 years ago

    So 10 games that will have a dog as a key component :D

    Only joking, I think someone who has made some good games over the years, I think this is a natural step. But where is a new Dungeon Keeper .. that game was cool :|

  • shamblemonkee #27 3 years ago

    MOLYMOLYMOLYMOLY! *pokes with twig*

    congratulations to him, PM always manages to get me giddy with childlike excitment whenever i listen to his presentations, his self imposed PR captivity seems to be doing him huge favours too, as he seems ot have eased himself off spouting every cool idea he wants in a game the instant he thinks of it :)

  • EvilBob_leeds #28 3 years ago

    Good for PM. But my dream of a decent Syndicate sequel seems to be slipping further away... :(

  • MORZTAN #29 3 years ago

    @Kangarootoo

    "...but I don't think he has ever set out to deceive."

    I was of the same conviction until I saw the Milo-clip. My God! He himself can't possibly believe the sh*t he spouts in those few minutes. The visions there, yes, but not with Natal will it become reality, and not within the next 10 years. Not to the degree that he is proclaiming.

    I'll stand corrected if Natal really does come through. But it won't...

  • MORZTAN #30 3 years ago

    @ Evilbob

    PM made Syndicate? Damn! He just got a 1up from me :)

  • kangarootoo #31 3 years ago

    @MORZTAN

    Hmmmm, this is true. The Milo presentation was a bit weird. I mentioned this before in a diffrent thread, about PM openly saying in his interview with Ellie that the title won't recognise complex sentences, and yet the demonstration frequently suggested exactly that WOULD be the case. Its not even like the demo wasn't "finished", PM himself said it won't EVER do some of the things that were mocked up. Puzzling.

  • Darren #32 3 years ago

    While I admire Peter Molyneux's enthusiam and vision, I cannot honestly say that I've really been that impressed by any of his games since Black & White on the PC but that was nowhere near as inventive or enjoyable as his earlier games such as Populus, Magic Carpet and my fave, Dungeon Keeper II. Since then he's released the not-too-bad The Movies, the not-so-great Black & White 2 and the overrated and undernourished Fable.

    Fable 2 wasn't too bad though - it was a decent improvement on the original Xbox game - but it was still nowhere near as ambitious, clever or innovative as he suggested it would be during development. The dog, while cute, wasn't as fun as the tech demos suggested it would be and ended up being pretty useless really in the time I spent with the game. A pleasant game overall but nothing special IMO.

    The Milo thing looked intriguing but while part of me wants to believe this is going to be best idea/game to date, part of me still thinks that it'll end up being nothing like the E3 2009 demo and another disappointment. Hopefully not though.

  • eddiep #33 3 years ago

    Microsoft should have just hired Fumito Ueda instead, with a single trailer (The Last Guardian) he managed to stir more emotions in me than all of Molineux's games since Dungeon Keeper 2. Peter is an unfocused enthusiast, he can't seem to give a proper shape to any of his ideas lately... :(

  • Ranger101 #34 3 years ago

    Congrats to peter, his vision might inspire a lot of companies to go for that big idea.... just as long as he doesn't talk it big for them.


    the jaded, cynical part of me really wants hint that MS appear to be 'making' their own Shigero Miyamoto.... but thats just me being jaded.
    Edited by 1 at 04/06/09 @ 17:11

  • cagool #35 3 years ago

    Agree with the people dubious about the title. Why not call him "Natal Overseer" and have done with it.
    "I really like the game, but don't you think that we could find a really cool use for Natal at that puzzle bit? No? Are you sure...cos I really think it would work..."

  • davisorle #36 3 years ago

    @ MORZTAN & kangarootoo

    First of we cant be complaining about something evolutionary cause its NOT a Wiimote NOR an Eyetoy. Motion controllers excist for so many years ever since i bought the damn MS Sidewinder controller for my PC. the past couple of years its been accepted through Nintendo's Wii. With Natal at least the demo was DEMO what they showed of at E3 with Milo etc within extremely limited time of production from Peter, so you cant seriously tell me that for such a limited time this was not impressing to you cause ill have to ask you whats the closest achievement of the kind you witnessed before in reality other then movies... No matter what , Natal is a huge step forward. Some might overreact to it but me myself i love new tech gadgets etc.. I cant help it. This isnt just somethign that spices things up a lil, tis is way more than promising and with Pter and Spielberg saying that are already working on Natal ( plus Rare etc ) why wouldnt one be excited? I dont understand whats theproblem with Natal? If you dont like it dont buy it.. lol