DeNA publishing Molyneux’s Godus

22 Cans’s crowdfunded god game Godus will be published by mobile-social publisher DeNA.

The Japanese company has been eager to expand its reach in western markets, and Peter Molyneux’s attempt to revitalize the genre he created could be a great chance to do just that.

Molyneux made it big in the game industry in the eighties with Populus and after leaving Microsoft’s Lionhead studios formed a new team of developers he dubbed 22 cans.

“We have huge respect for DeNA’s successes in mobile gaming,” said Molyneux.

“By fusing their expertise and experience with our passion and dedication, we are going to make Godus a truly groundbreaking reinvention of the god game genre."

The game doesn’t have a release date, but is slated for launch on Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android platforms.

Molyneux reckons DeNA will be quite helpful in getting the game to mobile platforms.

"As a global leader in developing and publishing mobile games, DeNA is the ideal partner for us to collaborate with on the launch of Godus," he said.

"Their breadth of expertise working with second and third-party game developers is invaluable as we prepare for the release of Godus on mobile devices.”

In an interesting coincidence, DeNA West CEO Clive Downie says this isn’t the first time he worked with Molyneux on a God Game.

“One of my first jobs in the video game industry was working on the quality assurance team for Peter’s Populous 2," said Downie.

"That title and its predecessor set the tone for a whole new generation of games."

"Fast forward to 2013, and it’s an honor to have the opportunity to work with Peter again on the launch of Godus. Our team is looking forward to working with 22cans on a game that we know will set a new standard for the mobile generation.”