Peter Molyneux made quite the name for himself during the 1990s and 2000s, and not without good reason. He helped develop a number of popular and even influential games, such asĀ Magic CarpetĀ andĀ Dungeon Keeper, and he earned particular praise and respect for the Fable series. Recently though, he has slowed down his output considerably. The most recent projects by his studio, 22cans, never managed to leave Early Access. Some may initially become excited, however, to hear that Molyneux soon plans to put out his first new game since 2017. Unfortunately, this new game, which will come out sometime next year, may not represent “the great Peter Molyneux comeback” that many may have hoped for, as it seems to exist mainly to take advantage of the recent NFT and blockchain phenomenon.
Molyneux’s new game, titledĀ Legacy, apparently serves as “an opportunity for players to build their very own business, designing their very own products from a huge array of possibilities.” According to Molyneux himself, players can earn Land NFTs that “allow [them] to start [their] own blockchain business association inĀ Legacy.”
Uh, what?
Molyneux specifically claims that the game will let players earn and own their gameplay, a statement that might as well have come right out of a satire. He also notes that the game will adopt its own cryptocurrency in the form of LegacyCoin, “which complies with the tried and trusted ERC-20 token standard.”
In the end, it seems difficult to view this new NFT game by Peter Molyneux as anything other than a cynical attempt to cash in on a growing trend, one that does not make that much sense to begin with. In general, his recent projects have not garnered anywhere near as much praise as his earlier works did, and it seems highly unlikely that this new game will reverse the trend, especially since it focuses so heavily on its business model rather than anything of artistic merit.
