Emperor of overpromising Peter Molyneux says he's done with games after Masters of Albion, which is also his 'redemption title'

Peter Molyneux smiling at the thought of nfts. — (Image credit: 22Cans)

Ah, Peter Molyneux. The games industry's premier promiser taught me a valuable lesson when I was young: never believe in anything. Ironically, he did that with Fable 2—generally recognised to be one of the best of his games. I had let him get me so hyped for it that when it came out and was merely 'pretty good,' I was crushed.

But future generations will have to learn this lesson from someone else. Probably in Roblox or something. Why? Because Molyneux recently sat down with Edge to reflect on a long career of making extravagant promises about acorns, and in the process he mentioned that, yeah, his upcoming game, Masters of Albion, is going to be his last.

My almost kneejerk response to which is 'pull the other one, Molyneux.' This is a man pathologically compelled to speak in sweeping, grandiose terms which end up not quite reflecting the reality of a situation, after all. To be fair, Molyneux expects that response: "I know people are going to say, 'Come on, it won't be your last game'", but he certainly seems to have convinced himself it will be. "Everything that I've done… it just feels like this is the bet, you know? I've put all my chips on the table."

Masters of Albion trailer still. — (Image credit: 22cans)

After all, even the man himself says "Everything about this game is just like all the other games," when describing Masters of Albion, and I see no reason that shouldn't apply to the hype cycle. Molyneux says, "Realising I'm making my last game, that would be the wrong time to change a lifetime's worth of practices."

Boy ain't that the truth? From what we've seen of the game so far, Masters of Albion sure seems like some kind of mashup of Molyneux's greatest hits: Black and White, Dungeon Keeper, and Fable. Will it serve as the capstone on a career full of promises, finally washing the taste of that crypto nonsense and Curiosity out of our mouths? That'd be great, but I'm holding close to that lesson I learnt as a kid.

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

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