Molyneux once lost his girlfriend to gaming

Wizardry on the Apple II proved to be his romantic downfall.

Have you fallen so deeply in love with a game that your flesh-and-blood partner couldn't get a look in?

You're not the only one: Peter Molyneux has revealed that he once lost a girlfriend thanks to his addiction to Wizardry, the pioneering RPG from the early '80s.

"I totally became obsessed with that game, to the point where I lost my girlfriend by playing it," the Lionhead boss told VideoGamer.com at E3. "I left her down the pub three times!"

The game didn't just cost Molyneux his girlfriend, either. On at least one occasion, Wizardry caused him to spend a hefty wad of cash on petrol.

"Once, my floppy disk was written off, and that night I immediately got in the car and I drove 150 miles to find another Wizardry player so I could get a copy of the disk."

Wizardry was developed and distributed by Sir-tech Software in 1981, and was a huge success. Aside from the Apple II the game was ported to a number of platforms including the NES and Commodore 64, and went on to spawn seven sequels.

Molyneux's comments came as part of a VideoGamer.com feature in which we asked leading industry figures to describe their earliest gaming memories.