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Peter Molyneux Leaves Lionhead For New Studio
Peter Molyneux, one of the founders of Lionhead Studios and the creative head at Microsoft Studios Europe, has announced that he was leaving those positions for a job at new company 22 Cans. Longtime gamers know Molyneux for his work on classic PC games such as Populous and Dungeon Keeper, though he's perhaps more well known among contemporary audiences for his Fable series.
"I have left the lovely amazing Microsoft and lionhead. Now for something really amazing, scary and brave a new company called 22 Cans," he tweeted this morning.
"It is with mixed emotions that I made the decision to leave Microsoft and Lionhead Studios, the company that I co-founded in 1997, at the conclusion of development of Fable: The Journey," he later told Kotaku in a statement.
Molyneux was on hand to show off the Kinect-based installment of Fable just days ago at a Microsoft event.
The move is perhaps less surprising when weighed against comments he made in the middle of last year. "I'm trying to think of a more diplomatic way of saying this, but I'm just a little bit bored of doing things the same way in games," he said in an interview. "While I love all the drama of modern games, there is this sameness about it."
Here's hoping that with 22 Cans, Molyneux can get away from having to deliver annual installments of a franchise and instead has the time and space to fully nurture his ideas.
As for the Fable franchise, Microsoft will certainly continue collaborating with Lionhead on one of its few remaining exclusive IPs.
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