Peter Molyneux, the former boss of Microsoft Studios Europe, has revealed the reason behind his recent decision to leave the company.
In an interview with Develop, Molyneux explained: "About 18 months ago, this series of strange things started to happen. I started to get all these accolades. I got a BAFTA Fellowship. I got a Lifetime Achievement Award in Spain, another in Italy, over in the states I picked up a few more. They were all coming in."
"Of course, I was unbelievably proud of it. But eventually I took a long hard look at all these awards lined up on the mantelpiece and asked myself, do I really deserve these? Are these a representation of everything I've done before? I couldn't believe it. Is this it? People were saying 'you've done it all, Peter'. Have I?"
But it wasn't the threat of standing still that provoked him to leave his lucrative role, it was something very different that acted as the catalyst to change: "One day I was at the studio sitting on my chair, in the zone, my eyes closed, my headphones on, blaring music in, trying to think of ideas for Fable: The Journey."
"Suddenly I felt my chair move. I looked around. Standing there was the Microsoft chair adjustment personnel, this nice woman who comes over once a month, fiddling with my seat settings to make sure it was posturepedically correct. I thought; this is insane."
He explained that this incident, along with other similarly themed Microsoft-specific procedures, left the legendary designer feeling like he was in "a creative padded cell" and that "the danger was long gone".
"I had this huge desire to make something truly special, and I felt like I was being suffocated creatively a little bit. That was the moment I realised I had to go."
Molyneux has since formed 22Cans and believes that "the greatest game I've ever made is still ahead of me." With games such as Black & White, Fable and Populous already behind him, who'd want to bet against that being the case.