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Molyneux - game authors should stand by decisions, take the rough with the smooth

Peter Molyneux has said there isn't an "end to development," in the industry anymore, and while changes can be made to a game via DLC or updates, creators need to stand by their work and take the good with the bad.

Speaking with Gamespot AU, Molyneux used the Mass Effect 3 ending as an example of greater user feedback in the digital age, and the ease in which developers can change games to reflect it said reactions.

"BioWare are the authors, they are the creators of this world," he said. "They entertain millions of people and we have to put our trust in them. If they believe in what they did, they should stand by that. There has been many times where I've watched films or read books and felt cheated at an ending. It's just today that you can say that about a computer game and then give feedback and that feedback can create a controversy.

"I think that we as authors of stories and entertainment have to stand by our decisions and justify them and take the rough with the smooth. If people don't like it, you can't just go and change it because if you have any sense of authorship, you're playing through a plan.

"That being said, nowadays there is no end of development anymore. You used to release a game and that was it, you were done. It was in the box. Now, you release a game, and there is this possibility and technology that allows you to change it."

Molyneux continued that with digital redefining everything, such vast changes also equate a lot of "fantastic" opportunities by creating a short route between the developer and the gamer.

"Only goodness can come out of that," he said.

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Stephany Nunneley-Jackson

News Editor

Stephany is VG247’s News Editor, with 22 years experience (with 15 of them at VG247). With a brain that lacks adhesive ducks, the ill-tempered, chaotic neutral fembot does her best to bring you the most interesting gaming news. She is also unofficially the site’s Lord of the Rings/Elder Scrolls Editor.

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