Molyneux Gives Credit Where Credit’s Due

Peter Molyneux of Lionhead talks about why he believes the gaming industry has so very few household names compared to other forms of entertainment. He points out that people are much more likely to know who wrote their favorite book or directed their favorite film, than who designed their favorite video game.

“I don’t think publishers like there to be people attached to a certain franchise,” he says. “I don’t think they want Peter Molyneux known for the Fable franchise and they don’t particularly want a famous person attached to any franchise – because if that famous person leaves, they can take the franchise with them.”

The Fable 2 designer also says that individuals, such as himself tend to get too much credit for a team effort in the development of the game.

“For a long, long time I’ve been credited unduly,” he says, “Not so much these days, because the role of a designer is much, much more understood. But for a very long time, I was way, way over-credited for many things.”

There are many times when I look at a game and the publisher is the name that the public focuses in on. The Development team is almost an after thought even though it created the game. I like to see publishers like Valve and Lionhead release dev diaries so that players can get to know what goes into the games they play and who makes it happen. Do you know who created your favorite games?

via guardian.co.uk