We are sad to report that Peter Molyneux, best known for creating the Fable and Black & White games passed away late last night.
He was admitted to hospital early evening on the 31st March after a PR stunt didn’t turn out as expected. During a Fable III marketing attempt in London, staff from Lionhead and Microsoft’s PR department were found on top of Buckingham palace with banners stating “Be like a King”. Lionhead say this was to symbolise being on top, and feeling just like the banner says. As the day worn on Peter felt he needed to be up there.
“I just realized that that must frustrate the hell out of people. They get very excited about these things and then understandably, when I’m not there, they feel slightly betrayed. It’s high up, but don’t worry I’ll be very, very careful”
After an hour of publicity Peter was harnessed down, this was the point the harness broke and he fell 4 stories. Unlike earlier in the year, his shoes were saved but Peter himself was in a critical condition with a broken spine and damaged lung. He was quickly taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead 6 hours later.
The staff on scene were shocked at what had happened, wondering why the harness was so unstable and not up to the standard you would expect. One colleague told us how devastating the whole ordeal was. “What started as a simple PR stunt has turned into the worse situation possible. Our original point was that we needed to surprise people. During a meeting Peter came in he wrote on this board, ‘I’m going to make a stunt people will never forget. Unfortunately this will be a stunt people will never forget for all the wrong reasons.”
Lionhead in memory of Peter has announced that ‘Milo’ will now we titled ‘Peter’. “We want to preserve the memory of Peter in the best way we can think of. Nothing would satisfy that more than immortalising him in the very industry he loved so much.”
This is a sad day for the industry. Peter Molyneux you will be missed.
Source: BBC
Eckerr
April 1, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Disgusting joke
david
April 1, 2010 at 6:15 pm
@Eckerr indeed
Shawn Gordon
April 1, 2010 at 8:39 pm
Oh, it’s not that bad. If it’s known he’s not dead, then there’s no harm. People need to get a wisk and de-sand their panties. If it’s disgusting, dont’ draw attention to it. It’s a lot more productive in fighting it than simply acting like an assclown saying ‘ew, I has a sad’, and ‘ORLY, ME2’
On that note, this was kind of funny… Pete’s always promising more than he gives… until finally he gave everything he had. 🙁
Craige
June 18, 2010 at 11:36 am
It’s not a sick joke when you can honestly say to yourself: ”boy I can imagine Molyneux actually doing something this stupid in order to get public attention for a game”. Saying this I love Fable 2 and am actaully jumping about in anticipation for Fable 3