Peter Molyneux

The master of the God game genre, founder member of Bullfrog Productions and creator of Populous. Had a hand in many great Bullfrog games including Powermonger, Syndicate, Magic Carpet and Dungeon Keeper. Well known for his attention to detail and somewhat indulgent media profile. Now working at Lionhead Studios on Black & White. Although Bullfrog were one of the most consistently successful and original games companies of the 1990s, there is a substantial backlash underway based on the patchy quality of later games (Syndicate Wars, Theme Park), the continual re-hashing of the Populous theme and PM's love-affair with Edge magazine and Sony. A famous anecdote from the time of Populous 2 recounts that he would sit for interviews and answer "yes" to all questions about his forthcoming game's capabilities, then redesign the game to incorporate them. For far more cynical needling of this industry "icon", check out Old Man Murray.

Molyneux certainly knows how to design a complex strategy 'eco-system', but has rather lost the plot in terms of making enjoyable games as anyone who has endured Black & White will attest.

Peter Molyneux is one of the most famous game designers around. Some of his work includes the Populous series, Dungeon Keeper, and Black & White, scheduled for a Spring 2001 release and maybe the most anticipated game of the year.

Molyneux, the son of toy shop owners, was involved with games all his life. He worked on games for the Commodore 64 and Amiga systems. His first major production, also the first game released by his company Bullfrog, was the Amiga conversion of Druid 2.

The first big success for Bullfrog and Molyneux was Populous, a great example of his signature genre, the "god game". After the sequel Populous II, Bullfrog's major titles were Syndicate, Magic Carpet and Theme Park. These games weren't great commercial successes but are all considered as some of the most well-built and innovative games of the nineties.

Another Bullfrog title, Dungeon Keeper, was a very interesting twist on the standard fantasy game, casting the player as the god of the dark side, torturing your creatures and managing dungeons to keep out the heroes.

When Bullfrog was bought out by Electronic Arts, Molyneux formed Lionhead Studios and left his former company, unhappy with the pressure EA was imposing on Bullfrog. The first game to come out of Lionhead is Black & White, scheduled for release in the Spring of 2001.

Other games by Bullfrog and Molyneux include Entrepreneur, Powermonger, Flood, Theme Hospital, Syndicate Wars, Gene Wars and Hi Octane.