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Peter Molyneux believes Fable 3 needed more time in development, and it is entirely his fault Microsoft didn’t grant this to the team at Lionhead.
Speaking to Eurogamer about his deepest regret at Lionhead, Molyneux said: “I take this as a personal failure. And it is a personal failure. Not being persuasive enough that Fable 3 needed more time. That’s purely and utterly my fault. It’s me not being clear enough about it.
The subject matter of Fable 3 was really good. Becoming a king was a good centre point for a game. It’s a shame we didn’t find more time.”
He added: “As a creative director you always have to be clear about why you need time. Any publisher in my experience over the years, they don’t want to give you more time. Of course they don’t, because it means more money. But they equally don’t want you to make a mistake with the product.
“It’s very difficult for publishers to actually appreciate why more time is needed and what the business case for more time is. That’s the responsibility of the director who’s in charge of that developer. That’s me – to explain that and make that clear.”
Conversely, he believes the dog in Fable 2 is a career highlight for his time at Lionhead.
“I loved the dog in Fable 2,” said Molyneux. “That was a moment where we realised gaming experiences aren’t just about the weapon you’ve got, that you can give something else to players.”
He continued: “It was a great journey to implement that feature. The emotional link people had with their dog – I’ve still got letters from people who said, I love my dog and when it dies these terrible things happen. That’s how you measure success.”
Molyneux is now at independent studio 22 Cans and hopes to begin talking about the studio’s first game within a few months.
