With Masters of Albion, Peter Molyneux presented his new project at the gamescom 2024, which appears to be a mix of Fable, Black & White, and Dungeon Keeper. The legendary developer can finance the project thanks to the NFT game Legacy.
How successful was Legacy? When Peter Molyneux announced the industry simulation Legacy in 2019, he aimed to develop a modern version of his game “The Entrepreneur” (1984). Well before the launch, in December 2021, there was the first opportunity to purchase properties for Legacy. At that time, however, the project had morphed into a blockchain business simulation.
The sale of the associated NFTs reportedly generated more than 50 million US dollars in the first few days. In an interview with Eurogamer during gamescom 2024, Peter Molyneux clarified that the amount reported was “exaggerated” by the press.
The first trailer for Masters of Albion by Peter Molyneux and his studio 22cans:
Nevertheless, Legacy was successful enough to finance the recently announced Masters of Albion at the Kölnmesse:
Well, I exaggerate, and you do too. You all exaggerated – it was not quite as much as people speculated. But it gave us the money to finance Masters of Albion. We used most of the money to bring Russell, Mark, and Ian back. It’s not cheap to do that. You have to take them away from their jobs.
Peter Molyneux via Eurogamer
Note from the editorial team: This refers to Russell Shaw, Mark Healy, and Iain Wright, whom Peter Molyneux knows from the old Bullfrog and Lionhead days.
The visionary didn’t understand his own game
What else does Molyneux say about Legacy? The initial success of Legacy was not sustainable. The final release in October 2023 fell right in the middle of the burst crypto bubble. Of all the NFTs that at that time belonged to 23 million people, less than one percent were actually still worth anything (via markets.businessinsider.com).
Peter Molyneux admits that he never really understood his blockchain project:
People played it, but unfortunately, at that time, there was not yet the meteoric rise of cryptocurrency that would have spurred real play-to-earn gaming. I think that the play-to-earn concept could only generate flat interest and then even declined. Legacy is still playable on the Gala Games website, but in my opinion – and I’m not someone who really understands it – the economic model works neither financially nor in terms of gameplay.
Peter Molyneux via Eurogamer
Somehow, it’s nice to see that there could finally be a positive example that NFTs actually hold some sort of value. After all, thanks to the Legacy revenue, Molyneux and his team can now develop a proper game that could even turn out to be really good.
What kind of game is Masters of Albion? In the first trailer, the construction strategy simulation seemed like a wild but exciting mix of the three Molyneux classics Fable, Black & White, and Dungeon Keeper. You build during the day and fight at night. With a kind of “Hand of God,” you intervene directly in the gameplay.
In doing so, you can expect many freedoms to master the challenges of the game – from rats as food to baguette swords for your fighters. The developers promise an open world and a strong focus on the story, with moral choices and quests. Our editorial director is skeptical: The hero of my childhood is back with a new game on Steam – But his idea flopped 7 years ago like Fortnite
