zddgame
/
Gaming News
/
Curiosity Winner, Once Promised a "Life Changing" Prize by Peter Molyneux, Has Received Nothing
Curiosity Winner, Once Promised a "Life Changing" Prize by Peter Molyneux, Has Received Nothing-October 2024
Oct 16, 2024 5:01 PM

  You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.

  Click To Unmute

  GS News Update: Rocky Road Ahead for Godus as Key Devs Depart

  GameSpot's Top 10 Games of 2023

  Thompson: The Pop Culture Icon’s Strange Legacy - LoadoutFirearms Expert’s FAVORITE Weapons Of 2023State Of Gaming Handhelds In 2023How Lies of P Cracked the Souls GenreLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Ichiban Kasuga Character Spotlight TrailerResident Evil 4 Adds Mercenaries and Microtransactions | GameSpot NewsFallout: New Vegas 2 Rumors Explained | GameSpotApril Xbox Game Pass Games Revealed | GameSpot NewsOver 15 Free Games To Claim In April | GameSpot NewsNew Witcher Game Plans Have Changed | GameSpot NewsElden Ring Death Count Revealed | GameSpot News

  Share

  LinkEmbed

  Size:640 × 360480 × 270

  Start at: End at: Autoplay Loop

  Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?

  Sign up or Sign in now!

  Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.

  This video has an invalid file format.

  00:00:00

  HTML5

  Auto HD High Low

  Report a problem

  Sorry, but you can't access this content!

  

Please enter your date of birth to view this video
JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031Year2023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975197419731972197119701969196819671966196519641963196219611960195919581957195619551954195319521951195019491948194719461945194419431942194119401939193819371936193519341933193219311930192919281927192619251924192319221921192019191918191719161915191419131912191119101909190819071906190519041903190219011900

  By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's

  Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

  enter

  Bryan Henderson, the 20 year-old Scot whose life was thrust into the spotlight when he became the winner of Peter Molyneux's Curiosity game, has not received any money since winning what was described to him as a "life changing" prize.

  Curiosity was an experimental iOS game, released in November 2012, that offered one lucky player a unique reward. The game presented dozens of vast layers of cubes, each encased within each other in a Russian-doll set-up, with players from the outside picking each layer apart piece-by-piece. The cube's six faces contained hundreds of thousands of cubelets, presented to all players simultaneously via shared servers. These were all restlessly picked away for seven months, until May 2013, when the final layer opened.

  The iOS experiment's popularity was fueled by claims made by its designer, Peter Molyneux, who said that what lies in the center of the cube was a "life changing prize," which would be given to the person who picks off the final cubelet. Henderson, by chance, was that final player, and was told he would become the "God of Gods" in Molyneux's next game, Godus.

  

"A month or two after winning, I would email them every month, purely because I expected more communication from them, but it wasn't happening"

According to Molyneux in interviews conducted in 2013, the God of Gods would be able to influence certain multiplayer modes in Godus, and along with this, would receive a cut of the game's revenue.

  Now, in an interview with Eurogamer nearly two years since winning Curiosity, Henderson says he has not received any money, nor has Godus' developer 22Cans maintained contact with him.

  He explains: "For a moment I was excited. My general feeling was, depending on how well the game does, I was thinking in terms of worst to the best, I could get £10,000 to £500,000 at the very best. Still, that would be awesome. But so far not a penny."

  The problem is that Henderson's role in Godus cannot commence until the game's multiplayer is introduced. Yet this has not materialized since the game's launch on PC in September 2013, nor after its release across iOS in August.

  GameSpot understands that much of the game's internal team has either left the studio or moved onto a different project, with the remaining lead designer of Godus has publicly expressed that features such as multiplayer are unlikely to arrive soon.

  Molyneux cannot guarantee that multiplayer will ever come to the game, meaning that Henderson may never receive anything after winning the "life changing" prize.

  

Inbox Zero

Henderson had tried to maintain contact with 22Cans about the promised reward, but says he was left frustrated after many routine emails to the studio.

  "A month or two after winning, I would email them every month, purely because I expected more communication from them, but it wasn't happening," he said.

  A multiplayer mode for Godus was promised at the outset"I would ask, so, what's happening? When am I going to find out more stuff? What's going to happen, specifically? They were taking their time to answer. They would say, we need to do this first and tell you afterwards.

  "Since I won and a year after, I would email them as a ritual thing, every month, just to get some kind of update. Eventually I was like, they're not being professional at all. Communication is non-existent, so I'm not even going to try anymore."

  Henderson has not received an apology from Molyneux, or his team at 22Cans, before Eurogamer had contacted the studio about the story.

  "That's pretty poor, isn't it?" Molyneux said of the whole affair.

  "He should have a contact here. That's pretty shoddy for us to not keep him posted. I totally and absolutely and categorically apologize. That isn't good enough and I'll take it on my own shoulders that I should have made sure he was communicated with. We will from today onwards do that."

Comments
Welcome to zddgame comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Copyright 2023-2024 - www.zddgame.com All Rights Reserved