Peter-Molyneux
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Molyneux: Kickstarter, Early Access can be 'destructive'
Peter Molyneux's Godus earned £526,563 ($852K) on Kickstarter in December 2012, yet the designer recently admitted that he would delay the funding campaign entirely if he could go back to the game's pre-planning stages. In an interview with TechRadar, the Fable series designer deemed Kickstarter and Steam Early Access as "very destructive to the final quality" of games that aren't particularly far along in their development stages. In the case of Godus, 22 Cans' spiritual successor to Populous, Molyneux said supporters had a "view of what the game is going to be like" based on the Kickstarter project, which differed from what the "invest to play" game wound up becoming. "I'm not saying I would never do Kickstarter again, but if I was to do Kickstarter again, I would say 'look, we've done half the game, you can download this demo, you can play the game,'" he said. "'You know what the game's going to be, now we're going to take it from this point to this point.'" Godus is currently available on PC, Mac and Linux via Steam as well as iOS and Android. [Image: 22 Cans]
DeNA and 22 Cans bestow Godus upon iOS devices
Godus, the game that gives you phenomenal cosmic power, is now available on an itty-bitty living space: your iOS device screens. Mobile game developer / publisher DeNA has translated Peter Molyneux's game that quite literally lets you play god for Apple's iPad and iPhone, while simultaneously removing the price tag, meaning Godus is free to download and play. Meanwhile, the PC version of Godus continues to evolve on Steam Early Access, with a recent post announcing that those who contribute "the most interesting, informative and helpful articles" to the Godus Wiki will receive signed merchandise from the team at developer 22 Cans. [Image: DeNA/22 Cans]
Godus iOS soft-launches on New Zealand App Store
Peter Molyneux's new god-game spread its dominion to iOS after soft-launching in the New Zealand App Store over the weekend. Godus is available as a free download, and although no official announcement's been made its arrival downunder is likely the prelude to a full release in the coming weeks. The iOS version offers gems as in-app purchases, with 100 gems costing NZ$6.49 (around $5.60). Purchasable gems have been a subject of contention for Molyneux and devloper 22 Cans, harking back to Godus' launch on Steam Early Access last year. However, the industry veteran denies his mobile model is like other free-to-play games. "What we need is a new term," Molyneux said earlier this year. "And that term is more like 'invest-to-play'. What really are we doing? We are tempting people to invest some of their money into a game." [Image: 22 Cans]
Weekly Roundup: the Moto 360, Sony's Project Morpheus, NSA transparency reports and more!
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Daily Roundup: Turkey bans Twitter, Peter Molyneux talks VR and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Former Free Realms lead reflects on the best and worst practices in F2P
Peter Molyneux's critical stance on free-to-play was all the rage earlier this week, prompting several developers in the F2P market to voice their own opinions. Laralyn McWilliams, former creative lead on Sony Online Entertainment's Free Realms, took to Twitter to voice her own opinions. "Hearing Molyneux talk about why F2P monetization right now is terrible," McWilliams tweeted. "Makes me think he will be learning some hard lessons." But an interview at GamesIndustry.biz allowed McWilliams to elaborate. "I actually agree with him, but I come from an environment where I recognise how challenging it is." She went on to explain more about the best and worst practices reflected in the F2P market and how this relates to the upcoming closure of Free Realms and Clone Wars Adventures. Check out the complete interview for more on Laralyn's thoughts regarding F2P's future.
Molyneux: Godus will be invest-to-play
Godus, Peter Molyneux's Kickstarted world-builder, will not be "free-to-play." It will be free and you will be able to play it, but "free-to-play" doesn't apply to the monetization process Molyneux envisions for Godus, he tells Pocket Gamer. "There cannot be a term that is less true," he says. "What we need is a new term. And that term is more like 'invest-to- play.' What really are we doing? We are tempting people to invest some of their money into a game." He doesn't break down exactly how Godus' monetization will play out, but he provides one detail: Monetization will enter the game at different points for every player, only when each one is "in the right mindset." Molyneux wants "to tempt people to think about being proud about investing," he says. "Before we even talk about monetization, we want players to feel like Godus is a hobby, not just a game." Molyneux is turned off by the monetization process in EA's Dungeon Keeper, a new, mobile version of the game he originally created – but he's aware that trying to change the free-to-play formula may not be profitable. "Yeah, I'm worried about that, but those risks are worth taking," he says. "We could layer in 'it takes six days to build this house', and maybe we'd make a shitload of money, but that's not my ambition for games."
Molyneux on new Dungeon Keeper: 'This is ridiculous'
EA's received hefty doses of criticism following the launch of its free-to-play mobile version of Dungeon Keeper, thanks in particular to the game's reliance on microtransactions. One person voicing displeasure with the game recently is Dungeon Keeper's original creator, Lionhead Studios co-founder and current 22 Cans head, Peter Molyneux. "I felt myself turning round saying, 'What? This is ridiculous. I just want to make a dungeon. I don't want to schedule it on my alarm clock for six days to come back for a block to be chipped,'" Molyneux told the BBC. "I don't think they got it quite right, the balance between keeping it familiar to the fans that were out there but fresh enough and understandable enough for this much bigger mobile audience." EA quietly safeguarded itself against poor reviews for Dungeon Keeper on Android in particular, as it was revealed last week that anything less than a five-star review was diverted to a feedback form within the app. Given Molyneux's penchant for the, shall we say, unconventional, if he's calling you 'ridiculous', something somewhere has gone terribly wrong. [Image: Electronic Arts]
Molyneux: You can doubt me, but Godus will evolve
Godus creator Peter Molyneux told me how much he's enjoying responding to feedback and using analytics to change his game in "massive ways." In the din of the Eurogamer Expo press area, the 54-year-old designer showed me spreadsheets stuffed with values that he could adjust there and then, things like how much an in-game follower wants to build temples or how social they'll be. It wasn't lost on me that I was watching the man behind the multi-million selling Fable series show me the Excel innards of his indie game. Molyneux described these values as smaller changes that are easier to effect, but he talked about how 22 Cans has "totally changed" the rules of the game's multiplayer in Steam Early Access: "We love the Early Access thing, we love that every week there's going to be radical changes to this game."
Molyneux on Fable Legends: 'I'm a fan'
After a report emerged on Peter Molyneux's "mixed feelings" towards the recently unveiled Fable Legends, I asked the veteran designer if he had any resentment over seeing a major Fable entry crafted without his involvement. His answer was a quick, cheerful "Not at all." "I'm now more of a fan than a person involved in it," Molyneux told me. "They're very talented people [at Lionhead], I'd just be fascinated to see where they're taking it. They've announced the Legends route which I find intriguing." Molyneux previously expressed surprise that Lionhead isn't carrying over the Fable story to make Fable 4, saying "there was a great prize to be won there." Instead, the upcoming Xbox One game will be multiplayer-centric, trading character creation for more defined heroes. Speaking to me at last week's Eurogamer Expo, Molyneux was upbeat, albeit somewhat cautious about the project. "I'm a fan. I like the idea, it seems to be a playful idea, and I'm gonna be fascinated to see how that evolves. Until they make a game and I can get my hands on it... then maybe I'll think to myself 'Oh God why did they do this and that?' But at the moment I'm intrigued and fascinated."
Molyneux's Godus manifests on Steam Early Access
Just as the prophet Peter Molyneux foretold, Godus is now available through Steam Early Access. Godus, which puts players in the heavenly shoes of a God who monitors and fosters the growth of a loyal indigenous people, is currently in development at Molyneux's indie outfit, 22cans. The game, which sought financing through Kickstarter and ultimately earned £526,000 ($852K) in funding, is a reinvention of Molyneux's lauded classic, Populous. As with all Steam Early Access games, this isn't the final version of Godus but an ongoing development project that Steam users can buy into. 22cans hopes to launch Godus on PC, Mac and mobile platforms initially, but is also considering Linux.
Peter Molyneux talks royalties and offline play for Godus
Bryan Henderson, the winner of Peter Molyneux's Curiosity experiment, will be receiving a "financially worthwhile" percentage of the game's profits when he takes on the (temporary) role of god of gods in Godus, Molyneux recently told Rock, Paper, Shotgun. "The first game that I did, I think I got less than 5 percent royalties from it," Molyneux said. "I'm not saying he has 5 percent royalties. But it's more than a percent." Godus will be available to play offline. Molyneux told RPS that if he were to say the game was always online, "this red dot would appear on my forehead and I'd be sniped to death." Molyneux cautioned, however, that playing offline removes the game's most "charming" features, like syncing with a villager's social feed. "My wife tweets and it comes up in the world," Molyneux explained. "It's a stupid feature. It's just a piece of text. But you end up ... caring for your little people, because they love you so much." Early access for Godus will be available on Steam on September 13, with an iPad version due at the end of October, and an Android version two weeks after that.
Peter Molyneux's Godus scheduled to land on Mac on September 13
If you've not heard of Godus, the upcoming deity simulator by heralded developer Peter Molyneux, you need only glance at the game's ultra successful Kickstarter to see how popular it already is. The title is scheduled to arrive on Mac and Windows through the Steam Early Access program on September 13. The game lets you play as a god who must manage a civilization and defend against attacks and other threats. When Molyneux's iOS app Curiosity -- a "game" of sorts that had users chipping away at a giant block with only a single person winning the right to view what was inside the core -- finally concluded, it was revealed that the winner would become the über-God in Godus for one year. This player can cause huge shifts in the game world that impact all other players, and that individual will also receive revenue from sales once it is released. An iOS version of Godus is also planned, though no details on a firm release window have been offered at this time. [via Joystiq]
Let the god games begin: 22cans' Godus beta available on Steam Early Access September 13th (update: iOS and Android release dates)
A collective effort pulled back Curiosity's curtain early this summer, and now it's nearly time to play god. On September 13th, 22cans and Peter Molyneux will make the beta release of Godus, the studio's latest "experiment" in god gaming, available via Steam Early Access for PC and Mac. The early release will cost eager overlords $19.99 and allow them to "sculpt every inch of a beautiful world," and, of course, destroy those worlds in multiplayer battles with other virtual gods. The Kickstarter-backed nod to Molyneux's Populous reached its funding goal in December of last year with the promise of PC, Mac and mobile compatibility and continued his focus on the video game as social experiment. Final release details are still under wraps but you can see an updated trailer after the break. And for more Molyneux, check out our interview from E3 2013. Update: We had a chance to catch up with Molyneux following his keynote at PAX and, among other things, he revealed release dates for iOS and Android versions of Godus: October 31st (Halloween) and November 14th (Day of the Colombian Woman), respectively.
Molyneux's Godus available September 13 through Steam Early Access
Peter Molyneux's 22cans is set to launch Godus for PC and Mac through Steam Early Access on September 13. The game is priced at $19.99 (£14.99 / €18.99). "For a long time I've been excited with how the game is evolving, I already feel there is nothing in the world like Godus," said Molyneux. "This is the type of game I have dreamt of making since first getting into the industry; having people play the beta and give us valuable feedback while doing so, makes that dream a reality." Godus was announced last year and successfully Kickstarted in December with £526,563 ($852K) in funding.
PSA: Molyjam Deux is underway, here's where to watch
The second-annual Molyjam is in full swing, and thanks to the magic of the internet you too can see what it's like to build a ridiculous game from scratch over the course of 48 sleepless hours. The event, which is taking place at 32 locations in 15 countries, has a live Twitch hub set up to allow for easy switching between the various webcam livestreams broadcasting the event. Unlike last year's Molyjam, which took its inspiration from the Twitter work of parody account Peter Molydeux, this year's function sources quotes from the man himself.
Molyjam Deux to use real Molyneux quotes as inspiration for games
Molyjam Deux will blow your mind – but in an entirely different way than it did last year. Molyjam is a game jam spawned from the Peter Molyneux parody account, Peter Molydeux, which tweets out ridiculous game ideas that wouldn't be out of place in the real Molyneux's feed. Last year, developers used Molydeux's tweets to create exciting games with absurd premises, but this year they'll build games based on quotes from the real Molyneux, provided without context. "Molyneux is a man who needs no assistance when it comes to parody," the organizers of Molyjam Deux write. "His own words are strong enough. Who but Molyneux has the strength to say things like, 'Pull the right trigger to see The Most Interesting Thing In The World.' Or, 'It's you Americans. There's something about nipples you hate.'" Molyjam Deux offers 22 Molyneux quotes for developers to use – inspired by Molyneux's studio, 22Cans – including, "If you love your dog, we're gonna mess with your mind, man. You're not going to be able to go to bed," and, "I still have nightmares about holding German sausages over my head." Molyjam Deux runs from July 5 - 7 in a range of venues worldwide. Check out the regions on the Molyjam map.
Curiosity: A worthwhile shame
I played Curiosity: What's Inside the Cube. I played it for a few hours over the course of its six-month lifespan. I feel a small amount of shame in confessing this, shame that I don't feel about anything else I've ever played – not Hooters Road Trip, not Dragon Power, nor any of the other terrible things I've subjected myself to. At least those things were games. Curiosity is a repetitive chore with a thin layer of "game" over it. It's gamification, applied to nothing. But despite making fun of it relentlessly – and, on a couple of occasions, even simultaneously while making fun of it – I tapped cubes. My ironic detachment failed, and I couldn't help but buy into the hype on some level, at least enough to participate. I admit that even though I knew it was a dumb game predicated on a promise from someone notorious for hyperbolic and unfulfilled promises, the novelty of the "life-changing prize" intrigued me. And so I joined thousands of strangers in helping some guy scratch off the world's most annoying lottery ticket.
Curiosity's Godus prize is temporary
Scotland's Bryan Henderson may be the god of all gods in Godus, but for all his godliness his godly status isn't eternal. As revealed by 22 Cans' Peter Molyneux to Rock Paper Shotgun, Henderson, who won the Godus prize by discovering what was inside the Curosity cube, will dictate the god game's rules for something "approaching a year" after its release, as well as earn a portion of its income. After that time, developer 22 Cans will reveal how he can be usurped, and someone will indeed usurp him. Also, the length of Henderson's reign may depend on Kickstarter backers' impressions of the god game and how all this madness comes together throughout alpha and beta testing. "It didn't seem right to me that Bryan would be god of gods for all time," Molyneux told Rock Paper Shotgun. "It seems right to me that he has a period of time to be god of gods, and that can't just be a few days. It needs to be substantial. And in that time, many things could happen. And of course, the amount of physical money he gets depends on how successful the game is."
Curiosity ends; Winner will become Godus' god
We've been following the saga of 22Cans' Curiosity ever since it started last year, and after speeding up the project just recently, Peter Molyneux has announced via Twitter today that it's now done. The last cube has been tapped by a winner in Scotland named Bryan Henderson, and the prize is that Henderson will become the actual god of Godus, which is Molyneux's next game in the works. As you can hear in the winner's video, Henderson will get to help decide the rules of the game going forward, and there's a little monetary compensation as well: He'll get a cut of the proceeds whenever someone spends money in Godus. Thus ends the saga, then, of what's in the cube. Or maybe not -- the app is still live in the App Store, and the last cube currently is showing a Twitter search of the hashtag #whatsinthecube. 22Cans has finished its experiment, and while the cube didn't exactly become a mainstream phenomenon as Molyneux may have hoped, the project, we heard, was profitable, and considering that someone did reach the end, I'd call it a success. We'll have to wait and see what Godus looks like when finished, and then if Molyneux has any other social, experimental ideas like this in the works going forward.
