Godus has entered a very strange stage in its development. Peter Molyneux has anointed one of the more vocal critics in its community, designer Konrad Naszynski, to salvage what he can of 22can’s dreams for the god game. With Naszynski deeming promised Kickstarter features undeliverable and Godus’ multiplayer “seriously shaky”, a hair-shirted 22cans have stepped forward to ask for just a little more patience from their community.
“There is a catalogue of things I did badly and incorrectly,” said Molyneux. “I made some horrendous mistakes. I think the main thing we’re paying with those mistakes is the amount of time it’s taking to find the game that Godus should be.”
In January, a frank Naszynskisaid that there was “not much point making grand plans [for Godus] now because I simply don’t know what will be achievable”.
“To be brutally candid and realistic I simply can’t see us delivering all the features promised on the kickstarter page, a lot of the multiplayer stuff is looking seriously shaky right now especially the persistent stuff like hubworld,” he wrote on the Godus forums.
And in a community update video uploaded last night, Molyneux said that 22cans should have taken Godus’ PC version “much further on” before getting stuck into its mobile equivalent.
“The quality is just not there, in my mind,” said Naszynski.
With key staff leaving the studio, responsibility for sorting out Godus on PC has now been handed to Naszynski – who is, according to Molyneux, the “fresh eyes” the project needs.
Molyneux insists that he will personally vet and refine every idea that goes into the game from now on, even while work begins at 22cans on a new mobile project, The Trail.
“Yes, it is a slightly different team. And yes, there are less coders and artists,” said Molyneux. “But that team is fully supported by 22cans. We are as passionate as we ever have been as a company and individuals to take Godus from where it is today to where it can be. And that journey could be months and months and months and months.”
Rather than simply tie off the loose ends of Godus’ early access build for a lacklustre final release, Molyneux suggests that the game’s team still have an ambitious roadmap ahead of them. That’ll begin with Naszynski’s work on an in-game story, and getting combat into a “fit state”.
“We will keep going while we’ve got money in the bank,” said Molyneux.
Evidently, it’s going to be tricky to keep morale high not only in the community but on the Godus team – with the rest of the studio off working on a project unburdened by unfulfilled promises.
Have you read our Steve’s interview with Peter Molyneux? It’s quite illuminating.