Gaming legend Peter Molyneux to leave Microsoft-owned Lionhead Studios

The man behind some of Microsoft’s biggest games, including the Fable series, has decided to call it quits.

Peter Molyneux, whose name may not ring bells for many but who founded Lionhead Studios way back in 1997, will leave the company once development is finished on Fable: The Journey.

He will also be resigning from his role as head of Microsoft Studios Europe, where he oversaw the work of both Lionhead and Rare.

Under Molyneux, Lionhead has produced some of the most innovative games of all time, including the Fable series and the Black and White series, where you were able to train a gigantic orang-utan to eat innocent people – something I remember with fondness.

Even before Lionhead, Molyneux worked on some truly ground-breaking games with his prior studio, Bullfrog Productions, including Populous, Syndicate, Theme Park, Magic Carpet and Dungeon Keeper.

"I remain extremely passionate and proud of the people, products and experiences that we created,” Molyneux says in a statement, "however, I felt the time was right to pursue an independent venture,” says Molyneux.

This new venture is called 22 Cans, although what it will be doing is uncertain.

Just before making the announcement, Molyneux said in an interview that he was sick and tired of being forced to use conventional video-game controllers.

Fable: The Journey was being developed for the Xbox Kinect because of this.

"I am just sick to death of having my hand clamped to this controller,” Molyneux told Game Reactor, "and having games say, ‘No, you will do it this way, and if you don’t do it this way we’re going to punish you’.”

Molyneux says the Kinect offers a feeling of discovery during play that was once upon a time the norm for any video game.

"Okay, core gamers are going to complain: ‘I want my thumb strapped to that controller’. But if we can give them a delightful experience, and if we can show them what it’s like to discover the gameplay again, I hope it’s going to be worth all the pain that it’s been to do it.”

Check out the amazing list of titles on Molyneux’s Wikipedia page.

Perhaps Molyneux is off to pursue his dreams of the next great adventure – what do you guys think? Do controllers need an upheaval, or are they fine as is? Let us know below.