Molyneux: Assumptions of wealth hurt Kickstarter

Peter Molyneux claims the assumption of his wealth has meant hurt his Kickstarter campaign’s chances.

Speaking to Kotaku, the 22Cans boss, who is trying to muster £450,000 from backers to fund his studio’s new god game Project Godus, claimed he did not have enough money to both start up the studio and also invest in the new title.

Molyneux claimed that he was not an excepetionally wealthy individual, despite being one of the most famous developers in the UK game industry having led development on numerous well-known titles.

He added that he understood many people saw the crowdfunding website as a place for small and struggling developers and perhaps not for big names, but that his own resources were still finite and he needed the money raised from Kickstarter to make Project Godus a reality.

“With Lionhead, I can’t remember the percentage of my share but it was way, way less than 50 per cent,” said Molyneux.

“I was just the front man and I believed that the talent was the people behind the scenes. So, I’m not saying that I’m out on the streets by any means but there’s a lot more wealthy people in this industry. I certainly don’t have enough money to fund 22cans for all time. I’ve used a lot of my money to fund the company in March of this year, and to recruit probably the best team that I’ve ever worked with and to release Curiosity but like all resources they’re finite.

“I think the assumption that I’m richer than Mark Zuckerberg and that we both own Europe has hurt our Kickstarter campaign. A lot of people think that people like myself shouldn’t enter into Kickstarter, that it’s only for struggling developers. We are very fortunate that I had received money to found 22Cans and we’re off to a running start. But again, those resources are finite."

With just three days left to go, Project Godus has raised nearly £370,000 in funds from 11,951 backers, but is still short of its £450,000 goal by £80,000.