Peter Molyneux explains why Black & White 3 remains MIA, and then releases a tantalizing teaser: "It's a very difficult, difficult and challenging title to develop."

The genre of the game Father God speaks

When you make a purchase through links on our site, we may receive an affiliate commission. Here's how it works.

As part of my recent interview with Peter Molyneux in Guildford, a wide-ranging chat that covered everything from Molyneux's latest game, Masters of Albion, and the new game-changing update to the origin of the famous black and white titan creatures, I also asked the veteran designer why a third black and white game was never made.

Fans of the Black & White series like myself and countless other PC gamers (Black & White currently tops GOG's most popular remasters list) have been desperate for a new release, either a remake of one of the original games or an all-new third game, hence the fact that it's been 20 years since Black & White 2: Battle was released. But is there any hope for fans of the series?

"Why did it take 27 years to do this? It's very difficult, difficult, and challenging to develop this title. It really is. I mean, there were a lot of systems out there that were just inventions, inventions for the first time. You have to remember [at the time] there was no middleware, so [mastering those systems] is the first big challenge, and it's a big challenge, and it's a challenge with masters in the world. At any time, and traditional methods. Optimizing a game is knowing that the player is only in this space, and that means the rest of the world can simply be forgotten.

"But in black and white, all the fun is zooming in and out [wherever you want]. So there were many technical challenges. [Also] that genre, that piece of cake, is always withering away. So, you know, getting a big developer like EA that owns the rights to Black & White, Microsoft gives them the rights to Black & White. "We're not going to play one of these big wedge games, [and instead] we're going to play four more games [of smaller, really hard wedge styles]."

My reading of these comments is that they seem right and not entirely surprising - especially since God Games is seen as a small piece of the pie by publishers. Any gamer who has followed the gaming industry for the past 10-20 years has seen how major publishers have consolidated and increasingly bet the farm on just a few genres and business models, the most notorious of which is live services. Those bets, for many, have now proven to be colossal follies, with countless epic flops (Skull & Bones, Concorde, Suicide Squad, Anthem, Marvel's Avengers, Redfall, MultiVersus, and APB: All Points Bulletin, to name a few) dropping literally billions of dollars.

Why spend money making a new god game, one that requires a dev team to achieve, with all sorts of custom, complex and interconnected systems, in order to make a profit, when you can instead try to make your own version of Fortnite and make a huge profit? Or, as the history of the actual gaming industry has shown, actually take a big loss. Getting a God game project greenlit, even a sequel to one of the most popular God game series ever made, was probably impossible. In that sense, it's remarkable that Masters of Albion is now even a reality in early access, and it's probably only because of Molyneux's pedigree as the father of the genre.

A tempting teaser for black and white fans

Just when I thought this part of the interview was winding down, with every new black and white release still stuck in gaming limbo, Molyneux dropped a potentially bombshell piece of news for God Game fans.

Peter Molyneux explains the origin story of the famous black and white creature: "It was a monster at first. It wasn't a cute creature.

Masters of Albion, Peter Molyneux's latest game, just got a huge update and [heavy nodding of lips in approval], all of a sudden the magic of the old god game is back.

Relic thought Company of Heroes 3's ambitious dynamic campaign would finally come together, but it didn't: "We bit off more than we could chew."

"I think there are people working on a black and white remaster. But it's inappropriate for me to talk about it."

Now, it is clear that Molyneux Studios is no longer owned by Black and White, and he is not associated with either EA or Microsoft. He is clearly not involved in the project. And it also only says that it thinks a remaster is in the works, not that there definitely is, so I think it's important to take that comment with a grain of salt. However, this would be big news if true. As mentioned above, Black & White is the number one game on GOG's favorites list and one of the best (if not the best) God games of all time. So a well done remaster would be great.

If the remaster sells well, which I'm sure it will, it could potentially open the door for a new game in the series. Right now, that's a long shot, but a remaster would at least bring us closer to reality. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the return of the famous black and white creatures (potentially powered by powerful new AI?!) would be great.

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

Stay up to date with the most important stories and best deals, as selected by the PC Gamer team.

Contact me for news and offers from other upcoming brands Receive emails from us from our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information, you agree to our terms and conditions and privacy policy and you are 16 years or older.

At the same time, though, I'm furthering the Masters of Albion's New Beginnings update, which has really taken Molyneux's final god game to a whole new level. It's also teased its potential Titans, so there's plenty to get stuck into while I wait. For more black and white news

Rob is the editor-in-chief of PC Gamer magazine and has been playing PC games since the early 1990s, an experience that has given him a lifelong passion for first-person shooters, isometric RPGs, and point-and-click adventures. Rob has been writing professionally about games, gaming hardware and consumer technology for almost twenty years, and was Deputy Editor before joining the PC Gamer team, where he oversaw the website's gaming and technology content, as well as its news and e-commerce teams. You can also find Rob speaking in a variety of other gaming magazines and books, such as Future Publishing's Retro Gamer magazine and numerous titles from Bitmap Books. In addition, he is the author of Super Red Green Blue, a semi-autobiographical novel about games and gaming culture. Rob also likes to ride motorcycles.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please log out and back in, then you will be prompted to enter your display name.

Cyan released a teaser for the first Myst game in 20 years and then announced its development.

For Warhorse's 15th birthday, we chatted with one of its founders about the demand for "grown-up" RPGs, artificial intelligence, why games are so cheap, and his role in the collapse of communism.

After Warcraft 3's first new campaign in 23 years, let's normalize the release of new DLC for ancient RTS games.

Shogun 2 remaster is so bad, Sega is removing it from sale and bringing back the original

After Civ 7, incidentally, Humankind 2 seems to be making the smart choice to pick up the 4X torch.

Total War: SHOGUN 2 - Complete Edition is a beautiful and modern version of an all-time strategy classic.

Star Wars studio Zero Company is bringing back some of its furloughed employees

Blood Bowl 3 is being replaced by Warhammer Blood Bowl: What will happen to everyone's unspent currency?

New scare gone: Amazon scammer appears to have removed an $889 AMD chip, grafted it onto an old Intel chip, and gotten it through return inspection.

US lawmakers call video game rentals a disguised sale: "When you pay for a game, you own it."

Steam Achievements are getting a big overhaul, with separate collections for DLC and Season Passes, and an easy way to compare with friends.

Less than 2 weeks after announcing RuneScape Reignited, Jagex is calling it quits.

Street Fighter Review Summary: Sorry, folks, but it looks like a mess

World of Warcraft: Forever developers say that gear upgrades will remain relevant "for a long, long time": "It's very much our intention to try not to invalidate old content as much as we can."