The last message

I’ve been thinking about abandoning this spoof account for a while now. Mostly because I’m done with Twitter and this account has been the only real reason I’ve logged in over the last few years.

But there’s a more interesting reason too: things have changed.

I started this account back in 2009, around the Xbox Arcade era, when indie games were beginning a real resurgence such as Braid, Limbo, and others. Back then, Molydeux-style ideas felt genuinely outrageous. Over time, so many indie games emerged that even Peter Molyneux’s wildest concepts stopped feeling unusual. You could play as a hole (Donut County), progress by taking photos (Viewfinder), or experience mechanics no one would have greenlit years earlier.

The same goes for diversity and accessibility. Tweets that once felt provocative like being “shocked” that a woman took up more space on a box cover (The Last of Us) or joking about a difficulty mode so easy you could just focus on the story gradually became - normal? And rightly so. What once felt radical and bizarre ("Imagine a game where you play as a cat") had became more common place.

Games evolved to the point where the ideas I was parodying were no longer outside the box.

I never thought I’d cut ties with this account. But after reading Peter Molyneux recently saying his upcoming game would be his last, it does feel like the right moment. It’s still surreal to remember being invited to a photoshoot with the very person I was spoofing.

I remember pulling up in a taxi to see him casually smoking outside the studio. He welcomed me in, excitedly showing Curiosity but also sharing excitement about another random small indie game he was playing and giving me his ipad to play it. Then later in a pub he was hinting at his ambition for Curiosity. That enthusiasm for the player experience, regardless if they land or not is at the heart of this industry.

I think the industry lost something when Molyneux vowed never to speak on stage again. Over time, that kind of unfiltered excitement has been replaced by carefully rehearsed pitches and bullet points. Fewer people go off-cue. Fewer let passion drive the conversation rather than marketing.

I hope every generation creates its own Molyneuxs. Joseph Fares at Hazelight reminds me an early Molyneux, i.e developers who get carried away talking about their “baby” instead of selling a product. I’ll always be grateful for Molyneux and what he gave to the industry.

I promise this is 100% not actually Peter Molyneux writing this.

As the industry continues through a difficult period (I recently lost my job when Ubisoft Halifax shut down), I still believe games will keep evolving in the right ways. Creative risks (not technology or metrics) are what truly push the medium forward. Looking back over the last two decades, we now have far more flavors of games, for far wider audiences, than we did in 2009.

As the industry inevitably rebuilds, I’m convinced it’ll be the small, weird games from over-excited enthusiastic designers in control of their games as they continue creating new experiences and nudging us forward, step by (baby?) step.

Yours sincerely,

Adam Capone

3D Environment Artist Portfolio https://www.artstation.com/caponeart