Fable 2 designer Peter Molyneux says he’d happily take the opportunity to update some of his past classics like Populous and Syndicate, but he’s not expecting it to happen anytime soon.
Molyneux, who headed the famed Bullfrog Productions before it was purchased by Electronic Arts in the mid-90s, was the man behind hits like the ground-breaking god game Populous and Syndicate, an ultra-violent isometric action/strategy game. His work on those titles, as well as on other classics like Magic Carpet and Powermonger, established his reputation in the industry, and on the eve of the release of his latest effort, Fable 2, Molyneux told Videogamer.com that he’d welcome a chance to have another go at his back catalog.
“I think it would probably be Syndicate or Populous again,” he said, before quickly pointing out that it was almost certainly never going to happen. “The rights are completely with EA,” he continued, “They’re hardly going to pick up the phone and say, ‘Hi Peter. Why not do these games?’ They’d want to keep it for themselves I would suspect.”
Despite wanting to do it himself, Molyneux added that he’d have no problem at all if EA took it upon themselves to release updated versions of his older games as downloadable titles. “Oh I’d love it. It would be fantastic. I’ve got no qualms of somebody else doing it,” he said. “I’d just love to see it updated, the concept kept alive. It would be second best but it would still be great.”
I like to have a little fun at his expense now and then, but the truth is that games like Populous, Magic Carpet and my own personal favorite, Syndicate, were landmark games and established Molyneux in my estimation as a designer beyond all reproach. Regardless of the ultimate success of Fable 2, Molyneux’s influence on the industry has been immense, and the opportunity to play an updated release of his greatest works would be sweet indeed.
