Lionhead Veterans Form Media Molecule

Late last year, we were reporting that Mark Healey - long time Lionhead veteran and creator of Rag Doll Kung Fu, one of 2005's major gameplay breakthroughs - had in fact left Peter Monlyneux's studio, at that time planning to start working on a new game in 2006. Which apparently is exactly what he's been doing for the past few months, together with another couple of ex-Lionheads (Alex Evans and David Smith).

The three of them, along with seven more people, make up Healey's new studio, called Media Molecule. The company's official website is nothing but a placeholder page for the time being, so it might be a while before any solid details emerge with regard to their game. But considering just some of the previous projects they have worked on - namely Dungeon Keeper, Black & White, Fable and the forementioned Rag Doll Kung Fu, we can surely expect a highly original (next-gen) game that's plenty of fun, if nothig else.

According to website Next-Gen.biz, Healey stated that: "We don't want to shout too loudly yet about what we are doing - we all feel it's better to let the game speak for itself, rather than convince people it's the most amazing thing ever before it's even made" - something that can easily be perceived as a reference to Peter Molyneux's habit of announcing dream-like features - which, more than once, eventually turned out to be missing from the final product. We have no idea what will come of Lionhead, now that Microsoft pulls their strings; but we can surely wish the very best for Healey's new endeavour!

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)