Peter Molyneux talks in-app purchases, Zynga-style games, and the future of the gaming market

PocketGamer.biz recently sat down with infamous game designer Peter Molyneux to talk about his new 22 Cans studio, free-to-play titles, and experimenting in the gaming market.

During the interview, Molyneux talked about his views on in-app purchases. Specifically, how he believes that players who utilise them are investing in a game.

"It is Kickstarter inside a game. I'm just naming what the reality is, and rewarding and saying thank you to people for investing in the tool. That's the reality - if they are investing, we're going to use some of that money to build this fantastic game," he said.

"Kickstarter is only just coming out in the UK - that's frustrating - but I love the idea that people are involved. We've got to realise that people want to be involved in a game's development, and they are now, whether it's before the game is released or after the game is released."

"That's what this is all about - thank you for doing that, you're in the credits for the final game, and if you spend a bit more you'll be on the private beta, and if you spend a little bit more you'll be in the game," Molyneux added a few questions later.

When asked whether mobile development was his first thought after leaving Microsoft, Molyneux said it wasn't. His first thought was actually that "there is no platform any more".

"In a few years' time, the thought that you would go into a shop and buy a machine to play your games on will completely go. Because this [points at iPhone] is with you all the time. All these devices are just different-sized screens that deliver the same experience," he said.

"That's my real fascination and obsession. I love mobile - all of my gaming takes place on this or this [points at iPhone and iPad] and I play three or four hours a day. I love it. I can't remember the last time I turned on a console game."

"What will the next generation of consoles be when the competition appears to be this [points at iPad]? By the time the next generation comes out, iPad will probably have been iterated on twice, at least. It's just crazy, and I think you've got to think in an incredibly nimble way," he later responded when asked if he thought console developers shared his beliefs.

Later in the interview, Molyneux was asked what he thought of bite-size burst games that are frequently published by the likes of Zynga.

"For me - and this is purely for me as a gamer - I find them way, way, way too greedy. They're almost monetising me in a way that expects me not to be engaged with that experience for more than a few hours," he responded.

"They want to squeeze everything out of me in the shortest space of time. But these devices are with us all the time, so we have to start thinking about gaming in the way that TV thinks about soap operas."

"Coronation Street and EastEnders [two popular British soap operas] aren't made for 'well there's your ten episodes, you're done' - they're made for life. They are both going to be on in 50 years' time - they are enduring properties that are going to exist, as wonderful or depressing as that is." [Laughs]