Peter Molyneux Receives OBE From Queen

One of industry's most famous figures receives prestigious honour as a busy 2005 begins.

2004 was a good year for videogames, and it ended particularly well for Peter Molyneux. Molyneux, head of Guildford-based Lionhead Studios, was included on the Queen's New Year Honours list, being made an OBE for his contribution to the UK videogame industry.

Highest honour ever paid to a games industry representative

"It's come completely out of the blue," Molyneux told the BBC. "I never would have guessed that I'd have that kind of honour."

Molyneux, who granted Kikizo a series of revealing interviews a few months ago, has been making games for more than 15 years now. Over that time he has created some of the most loved games the industry has seen, including Populous, Theme Park and Black & White.

Most recently, Molyneux worked on Fable, the firstparty action-adventure game for Xbox that allows you to "live the life of a hero". After more than four years in development, the game was released in September and promptly sold faster than any Xbox game before it.

Next up for Molyneux is a trip to the flicks in The Movies, which will allow you to control the fate of a movie studio. Beyond that, Kikizo andicipates the announcement of a Fable follow-up and further down the line, the unveiling of the mysterious Project Dimitri, whcih Molyneux discussed with Kikizo in this article.

Molyneux is the first member of the games industry to ever receive the prestigious honour and the news bodes well for the mass perception of videogames, which seems to be steadily improving.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games