Peter Molyneux – 2011 Academy Fellow

Peter Molyneux OBE, game-design legend behind Populous and Theme Park, received the 2011 BAFTA Fellowship at the GAME British Academy Video Games Awards.

Molyneux was recognised for his outstanding and exceptional contribution to gaming. He invented the ‘God game’ genre with Populous as well as strategy hits Dungeon Keeper and Powermonger.

The creative force behind some of the world’s most popular and enduring titles, he’s sold fifteen million games around the world so far.

“We’re delighted to be honouring Peter at this point in his long and successful career in video games,” said Amanda Berry OBE, chief executive of BAFTA.

“He is one of the leading figures in the development of video games as an art form and an inspiration to the next generation of creative minds”.

Many developers dream of creating a whole new kind of game. Molyneux did it in 1989 with Populous.

Released by his own company, Bullfrog Productions, Populous was the first ‘God game’ – putting players in charge of controlling worlds on an epic scale. Since then he has been responsible for a string of huge gaming hits including Powermonger, Magic Carpet, and the Fable series.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think it would be possible for me to accept one of the greatest honours the entertainment industry has to offer.

“My first thought on learning that I was awarded an Academy Fellowship was that to be in the company of some of the greatest talents the entertainment industry has ever seen is truly humbling and secondly that this is an award not just for myself, but for all the people I’ve ever worked with.”

Awarded every year by the Academy, the BAFTA Fellowship is the highest accolade given to an individual in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, games or TV.

Previous Fellows include Elizabeth Taylor, Stanley Kubrick, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Judi Dench and Vanessa Redgrave.

For more inspiring stories from the world of film, games and TV explore our BAFTA Award Stories section.