You’ve read the fluffy reasons Peter Molyneux left Lionhead, the studio he built, and Microsoft along with it. The general stuff. It’s important to know, sure, but I like the raw specifics a bit better.
In another post-Microsoft interview, this time with Develop, Molyneux says it was all about the chairs.
I had this unbelievable desire to make something special. Of course I didn’t have the idea for the game itself, partly because when you’re at Microsoft any idea you have is property of Microsoft.
But then, this terrible thing happened to me.
One day I was at the studio sitting on my chair, in the zone, my eyes closed, my headphones on, blaring music in, trying to think of ideas for Fable The Journey.
Suddenly I felt my chair move. I looked around. Standing there was the Microsoft chair adjustment personnel, this nice woman who comes over once a month, fiddling with my seat settings to make sure it was posturepedically correct.
I thought; this is insane.
If you’ve never worked in a large office before, these people do indeed exist. It’s cheaper to pay them a salary than to pay someone with a bad back claiming a mint on worker’s comp.
I hope she doesn’t feel too bad. It’s the game he hated, not the player.
Molyneux: This is my last chance [Develop]
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