'Whole world becoming gamers,' says Peter Molyneux

Peter Molyneux, who left his post at Microsoft in March to form independent company 22 Cans, believes that gaming is becoming a truly global phenomenon. Speaking at the Unite 2012 conference in Amsterdam this week (attended by Videogamer), the developer said, "The amazing thing about where we are today is that the whole world is becoming gamers."

Also during his talk, Molyneux explained that he is tired of other forms of entertainment. He claimed that video games are the only entertainment medium that is capable of surprising people, and called on developers to push the boundaries of what gamers expect.

"I'm bored with movies, I'm bored with TV programs. We're in the industry, the last entertainment industry that really, truly can surprise people," he claimed. "We are in the industry where surprise has to be at the center of everything that we do."

Molyneux also took time to explain one of the reasons he left Microsoft, saying he quit his job at the firm to work on just one game at a time.

"For me, having one idea that I and my team utterly, completely, obsessively focus on is the reason that I left," he said.

Molyneux was appointed creative director of Microsoft Game Studios in Europe in 2009, where he oversaw Microsoft-owned British developers Rare and Lionhead. He is currently at work on September's iOS game Curiosity, which is currently searching for a new name.