Peter Molyneux is back. MeinMMO author Schuhmann says: He developed some of the most important games of my childhood with Populous, Powermonger, and Dungeon Keeper. But the new concept for Master of Albion (Steam), which he presented at gamescom 2024, sounds like the Fortnite that flopped so badly in 2017.
What relationship do I have with Peter Molyneux?
- As a child and teenager, I loved the games of Peter Molyneux without knowing they were his. Back then, only names like “Bullfrog” and later “Lionhead” were on the games.
- I grew up with the God games Populous (1989) and Powermonger (1990) – back then on the Sega Mega Drive. But I especially loved Dungeon Keeper (1997). I remember Black & White 1 and 2 (2001/2005) as innovative and fun games that had so much potential for more. I spent way too many hours on “The Movies” (2005).
- It was only later that I realized that all the games I liked came from one man: Peter Molyneux, and that he excited and disappointed a generation of players and journalists at the same time because he spoke so enthusiastically about his already good games that promises were made that could never be fulfilled.
Hasn’t anyone told Peter Molyneux that his idea flopped 7 years ago?
This is now his new game: Yesterday at gamescom, Peter Molyneux presented his new game “Masters of Albion”.
And my first thought was: “Hasn’t anyone told Peter Molyneux that his idea is 7 years old and was one of the biggest flops of the last – well – 7 years?”
In Molyneux’s new game, one is supposed to build during the day and defend the village against various enemies at night.
This is exactly the premise of “Fortnite – Save the World”, which was released in July 2017 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
MeinMMO is an official media partner at gamescom 2024. More highlights from the event can be found in our exclusive FYNG show on site.
Fortnite was supposed to be Epic’s big flagship in 2017 – It almost failed immediately
How was Fortnite back then? Epic had been working on Fortnite for years; it was supposed to be their new flagship and promote the Unreal Engine. However, in the same summer of 2017, only a few months after the Early Access release, Fortnite – Save the World was virtually dead. It was ultimately overshadowed by Fortnite: Battle Royale and later replaced.
Okay, Molyneux wants to use his own ideas from Dungeon Keeper and Black and White; with a “god hand,” one will be able to intervene directly, and it will be possible to take control of individual creatures.
But everything around it is supposed to be immense: one should be able to combine, expand, and level up everything.
All of this was also present in the original Fortnite. The problem: Fortnite – Save the World felt like an Asian mobile game. With numerous rewards and interwoven systems, it was a constant grind, and one had to play for hours to get the items they wanted, and often they were the wrong ones:
- In Fortnite, one could select heroes, equip them with various weapons and items, build a fort, and set traps – all items and characters had different levels and quality tiers. One fought against monsters that attacked at night.
- “Masters of Albion” is also supposed to offer all of that and even much more – in the game trailer, it was even possible to assemble the exact sandwich, layer by layer, that a hero eats.
What is the problem? Given Peter Molyneux’s past and his strange NFT/mobile endeavors in recent years, I have a bad feeling about the “Build by Day / Fight by Night” game. Because even Fortnite – Save the World failed due to excessive microtransactions and the endless grind, where the actual gameplay took a backseat and quickly became boring.
Fortnite: Battle Royale eliminated all levels and quality tiers from the game, focused on gameplay, and reduced the grind. This Fortnite quickly achieved the success that Epic Games had hoped for from their “Build by Day / Fight at Night” game.
It’s somewhat an unfortunate mix:
- I like Peter Molyneux
- I love Dungeon Keeper, which clearly serves as an important model
- And I liked and played the original Fortnite – Save the World way more than I probably should have
But the combination of these three things that I actually like has only a vanishingly small chance of turning out well, rationally speaking. However, I’ve never hoped more to be wrong than with Peter Molyneux’s new game: Legendary developer promises not to hype his new game – then hypes his new game
