More Celebrities Would Reduce Sequel, According to Peter Molyneux

Peter Molyneux is no longer involved with Lionhead, the company he helped create, or publisher Microsoft, but he still has very strong opinions about the industry he is part of, specifically celebrity developers and their link to sequel potential.

Speaking to an audience, he stated that, “We use to have the Bitmap Brothers, and these were quite celebrated people, but it wasn’t in the publisher’s interest to celebrate these people. If more of these celebrities were trusted, then maybe we wouldn’t have so many sequels.”

Presumably, Molyneux’s train of thought sees celebrity status as a way for developers to leverage their talent and convince companies that they should rely on their main asset, creativity, rather than simply churn out sequels.

He also talked about how famous developers need to behave towards the general public and the press.

Molyneux believes that companies should not be afraid of allowing big names to express themselves freely.

The developer added, “I think what is also true and quite sad is that a lot of the time a lot of developers are incredibly scared of the press. One of the most fantastic people I’ve worked with, Louise Murray, head of the Fable franchise, was afraid of the press.

“You need people who are confident and eloquent enough to deal with the press, but at the moment we don’t have that and it’s very hard to do that.”

Molyneux is now working with 22 Cans, an indie developer, and is preparing to unveil his first new project.

The game designer, himself a celebrity, has created such well-known titles as Populous, Dungeon Keeper and Black & White, all of which have been turned into franchises.

Recently, he has only been linked to the Fable series, which Lionhead is still developing in his absence, with the Journey spin-off set to be launched later during 2012.