Just say MolyNO: Fools and Geniuses
I'll be at Furry Fiesta this weekend, where I'll be talking about self-publishing, running your own business, and how to manage a crowd-funding.
Recently, Peter Molyneux has been in the news. He's ditched his last project, Godus, to go work on another game, while Godus flounders without leadership or a strategy. There's a long interview with him on Rock, Paper, Shotgun, that's well worth reading in its entirety. Here's the most telling quote:
"The economics of doing Godus, unfortunately Kickstarter didn’t raise enough money. Now the trouble is with Kickstarter, you don’t really fully know how much money you need and I think most people who do Kickstarter would agree with me here. You have an idea, you think you need this much, but as most people will say with Kickstarter, if you ask for too much money up front because of the rules of Kickstarter, it’s very, very hard to ask for the complete development budget. [emphasis mine] I think Double Fine have gone back and asked for more money because development is a very, very, it’s a very confusing and bewildering time, and it’s very hard to predict what will happen."
I'm singling out that part of his quote, because it's a lie, and Molyneux is the liar.
There's no rule on Kickstarter about how much money you're allowed to ask for
Molyneux's embellishment, where he goes to talk about Double Fine's money troubles, makes it clear that Molyneux saw crowd-funding as a way to get money. Kickstarter money was apparently just given out to people with no expectation that the project would get done.
Molyneux repeatedly says how it's impossible for anyone to know how much a video game costs... while repeatedly deflecting criticism that since he's a thirty-year veteran of the industry, he should know better. Only "fools" or "geniuses" can budget a game, he says. Molyneux is also dismissive that even though his crowd-funding finished with much more money than his initial goal, it still wasn't enough money.
There is a rule against dishonesty on Kickstarter
One rule that Kickstarter does have is that "projects must be honest and clearly presented". Maybe Molyneux was, in his own definition, a fool, when he thought he could make Godus for the Kickstarter budget? Unforutnately, that's really hard to believe, because Molyneux's tone in the interview makes it sound like he knew going in that he'd have to low-ball his budget to get the money - the "rules of Kickstarter", as he calls it.
Molyneux is saying both that he both deliberately under-estimated his budget to get the Kickstarter money and he believed he could somehow finish his project without enough money. That's not genius talk, there. Maybe it's for the best that Godus won't get made, because Molyneux was already talking about adding pay-to-win, a feature not mentioned in the original pitch.
Molyneux is dishonest to his customers
Molyneux has taken criticism in the past for making promises about what his games will deliver, only for the customers to find corners have been cut and there's less there than he said. The fact that these corners have been cut repeatedly says that Molyneux doesn't care about what people think of what he says. Molyneux will continue to be dishonest with you.
Molyneux is not retiring from game design. He's just declining to give interviews. He will continue to promise people whatever they want to hear, as long as it still gets him gaming contracts. Since interviewers can only call him out on his dishonesty, so he won't be giving them.
Molyneux's previous project, Curiosity, or What's in the Cube, was a pay-to-win game that had, as its ultimate prize... to become a spokes-person for Godus. Molyneux's contempt for his own audience is that he made a for-profit project whose sole prize was to promote his next for-profit project, which he personally had no idea if it would even be made. And now he's just walking away from that, without a single apology to anyone. Molyneux has your money, it's time for him to move on.
Molyneux would have you believe that it's impossible to budget a game
This myth is extremely toxic to any creative endeavor. It's easily disproven, by the sheer evidence of all the games that exist. Yes, it's all too easy to go over your budget, and to over-reach yourself -- we're looking at you, Double Fine. But triple-A publishers make dozens of games a year and continue to produce a profit, as their shareholders can tell you. And there's a few triumphant indies every year... which don't make the news much, as "tiny company rips no one off" isn't really news.
Molyneux got paid, and took his money, and is now working on his next money-making venture. If the interview is to be believed, delivering the complete game to his customers was never in Molyneux's budget plan.
Molyneux will continue to get work in the games industry
You can fool some of the people, all of the time. And in the kingdom of fools, the genius is king.
Recently, Peter Molyneux has been in the news. He's ditched his last project, Godus, to go work on another game, while Godus flounders without leadership or a strategy. There's a long interview with him on Rock, Paper, Shotgun, that's well worth reading in its entirety. Here's the most telling quote:
"The economics of doing Godus, unfortunately Kickstarter didn’t raise enough money. Now the trouble is with Kickstarter, you don’t really fully know how much money you need and I think most people who do Kickstarter would agree with me here. You have an idea, you think you need this much, but as most people will say with Kickstarter, if you ask for too much money up front because of the rules of Kickstarter, it’s very, very hard to ask for the complete development budget. [emphasis mine] I think Double Fine have gone back and asked for more money because development is a very, very, it’s a very confusing and bewildering time, and it’s very hard to predict what will happen."
I'm singling out that part of his quote, because it's a lie, and Molyneux is the liar.
There's no rule on Kickstarter about how much money you're allowed to ask for
Molyneux's embellishment, where he goes to talk about Double Fine's money troubles, makes it clear that Molyneux saw crowd-funding as a way to get money. Kickstarter money was apparently just given out to people with no expectation that the project would get done.
Molyneux repeatedly says how it's impossible for anyone to know how much a video game costs... while repeatedly deflecting criticism that since he's a thirty-year veteran of the industry, he should know better. Only "fools" or "geniuses" can budget a game, he says. Molyneux is also dismissive that even though his crowd-funding finished with much more money than his initial goal, it still wasn't enough money.
There is a rule against dishonesty on Kickstarter
One rule that Kickstarter does have is that "projects must be honest and clearly presented". Maybe Molyneux was, in his own definition, a fool, when he thought he could make Godus for the Kickstarter budget? Unforutnately, that's really hard to believe, because Molyneux's tone in the interview makes it sound like he knew going in that he'd have to low-ball his budget to get the money - the "rules of Kickstarter", as he calls it.
Molyneux is saying both that he both deliberately under-estimated his budget to get the Kickstarter money and he believed he could somehow finish his project without enough money. That's not genius talk, there. Maybe it's for the best that Godus won't get made, because Molyneux was already talking about adding pay-to-win, a feature not mentioned in the original pitch.
Molyneux is dishonest to his customers
Molyneux has taken criticism in the past for making promises about what his games will deliver, only for the customers to find corners have been cut and there's less there than he said. The fact that these corners have been cut repeatedly says that Molyneux doesn't care about what people think of what he says. Molyneux will continue to be dishonest with you.
Molyneux is not retiring from game design. He's just declining to give interviews. He will continue to promise people whatever they want to hear, as long as it still gets him gaming contracts. Since interviewers can only call him out on his dishonesty, so he won't be giving them.
Molyneux's previous project, Curiosity, or What's in the Cube, was a pay-to-win game that had, as its ultimate prize... to become a spokes-person for Godus. Molyneux's contempt for his own audience is that he made a for-profit project whose sole prize was to promote his next for-profit project, which he personally had no idea if it would even be made. And now he's just walking away from that, without a single apology to anyone. Molyneux has your money, it's time for him to move on.
Molyneux would have you believe that it's impossible to budget a game
This myth is extremely toxic to any creative endeavor. It's easily disproven, by the sheer evidence of all the games that exist. Yes, it's all too easy to go over your budget, and to over-reach yourself -- we're looking at you, Double Fine. But triple-A publishers make dozens of games a year and continue to produce a profit, as their shareholders can tell you. And there's a few triumphant indies every year... which don't make the news much, as "tiny company rips no one off" isn't really news.
Molyneux got paid, and took his money, and is now working on his next money-making venture. If the interview is to be believed, delivering the complete game to his customers was never in Molyneux's budget plan.
Molyneux will continue to get work in the games industry
You can fool some of the people, all of the time. And in the kingdom of fools, the genius is king.