Peter Molyneux O.B.E., video game designer (Populous, Theme Park, Fable).

Peter Molyneux O.B.E., video game designer (Populous, Theme Park, Fable).

My guest today is an English video game designer and programmer. In 1984 he designed The Entrepreneur, a simulation game about running a start-up company. When it sold just two copies, however, my guest left the world of video games and began exporting cans of baked beans to the Middle East.


When the computer manufacturer Commodore mistook this venture for a software company with a similar name, my guest signed a deal to design a database system for the Amiga. This benign deception eventually led to the founding of Bullfrog Productions, where my guest designed Populous, the first so-called god game, which went on to sell more than four million copies. Many more successes followed: 1994’s Theme Park, 1997’s Dungeon Keeper then, after he founded Lionhead Studios, the multi-million selling Fable series.


My guest is no stranger to controversy either; his more recent, experimental work at 22Cans, the company he founded in 2012, has sometimes been accused of overpromising and underdelivering. He remains, nonetheless, a legendary – if elusive – figure in the UK games industry.


Play the console:



Thank you for listening to My Perfect Console. Please consider becoming a Patreon supporter; your small monthly subscription will help to make the podcast sustainable for the long term, and you'll receive bonus content, and access to the My Perfect Console community: https://www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole

Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole


Take the Acast listener survey to help shape the show: My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin Survey 2025

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episoder(182)

Meghna Jayanth, narrative designer (80 Days, Sunless Seas, Thirsty Suitors).

Meghna Jayanth, narrative designer (80 Days, Sunless Seas, Thirsty Suitors).

My guest today is an award-winning writer and narrative designer for video games.As a child she split her time between Bangalore, London, and Saudi Arabia before settling in the UK to study English Li...

30 Okt 20231h 23min

Lucas Pope, gamemaker (Papers, Please; Return of the Obra Dinn).

Lucas Pope, gamemaker (Papers, Please; Return of the Obra Dinn).

My guest today is the American designer of two of the most highly regarded experimental games yet made. He grew up in Virginia, where his interest in hobbyist robotics led him to study mechanical engi...

23 Okt 20231h 15min

David Wilson, former Director of Communications, PlayStation. (LIVE @ WASD)

David Wilson, former Director of Communications, PlayStation. (LIVE @ WASD)

My guest today is the former Director of Communications for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. After graduating from the University of Exeter, he joined Dennis Publishing where he worked as deputy ed...

16 Okt 20231h 8min

Pierre Novellie, comedian.

Pierre Novellie, comedian.

My guest today is a stand-up comedian, writer, radio host and podcaster. Born in South Africa, his family then moved to the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. He studied Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic langu...

9 Okt 20231h 8min

Jennifer Hale, voice actor (Mass Effect, Metal Gear Solid, Knights of the Old Republic, Cinderella)

Jennifer Hale, voice actor (Mass Effect, Metal Gear Solid, Knights of the Old Republic, Cinderella)

My guest today is a is a Canadian American actor for video games, television and film. Born in Labrador in Canada, she soon moved to Alabama in the United States, where, as a teenager, she began worki...

2 Okt 20231h 10min

Kieron Gillen, comic book author (Star Wars, X-Men, Iron Man, DIE).

Kieron Gillen, comic book author (Star Wars, X-Men, Iron Man, DIE).

My guest today is an award-winning creator and writer of comic books. Born into a Staffordshire working-class family, he was a student of Applied Biology at Bath University when he started contributin...

25 Sep 20231h 16min

Annabel Ashalley-Anthony, founder Melanin Gamers.

Annabel Ashalley-Anthony, founder Melanin Gamers.

My guest today is a British-Ghanaian writer and advocate for inclusion and diversity in the video game industry. Having graduated from the University of Westminster with a degree in creative writing w...

18 Sep 20231h 10min

Clint Hocking, creative director (Splinter Cell, Far Cry 4, Watch Dogs Legion, Assassin's Creed Infinity)

Clint Hocking, creative director (Splinter Cell, Far Cry 4, Watch Dogs Legion, Assassin's Creed Infinity)

My guest today is a Canadian video game designer and director. After graduating from the University of British Columbia with an MFA in creative writing, he joined Ubisoft Montreal where he co-wrote th...

11 Sep 20231h 21min

Populært innen Fritid

rss-spartsklubben
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
mil-etter-mil-en-podcast-om-bil
nerdelandslaget
interiorradet
livet-pa-veien-med-jan-erik-larssen
jegerpodden
jakt-og-fiskepodden
rss-gatebilpodden
rss-avskiltet
level-backup
0-100-med-broom-mats-og-remi
rss-jeg-fikser-vin
villmarksliv
rss-jegerpodden
rss-var-forste-kaffe
hagespiren-podcast
klokkepodden
fjellsportpodden
grontpodden