F2P must stop ‘grooming children’, says Molyneux

Fable creator Peter Molyneux has warned that brutal” and greedy” free-to-play mechanics are inviting government legislation, something he believes will be detrimental to the industry.

Speaking to MCV’s sister month Develop, the veteran developer once again discussed his disappointment at the brutality” of the free-to-play mechanics in the new Dungeon Keeper, a reboot of one of Molyneux’s past projects.

We cannot continue to be obsessively greedy with our consumers, grooming children for hundreds of pounds from their parents’ accounts,” he said.

I hate the term ‘free-to-play’, and I hate the way the model is burning through our consumers and the tender shoots of new gamers. I think the world is ready for a new way to approach that whole angle. What we’re doing with Godus is ‘invest-to-play’. When players spend money, whatever they receive must feel like an investment not a cheat – that feels like a more responsible way of monetising free games.”

Develop has lots more on this story.