Video game developer Peter Molyneux is both rather famous and rather divisive in the industry. Maybe that's why the man was briefly subject to a retirement hoax after someone hacked his Twitter.

A series of tweets briefly dropped from Molyneux’s Twitter account around 4 p.m. EST today, which initially caused the world to believe that the historic developer had thrown in the towel and called it quits. Previously, Molyneux had been quoted as saying that he was “just gonna die” before quitting, making the tweet rather shocking.

The first of those claimed that Godus, the latest game from the developer while at 22cans, would be pulled from Steam immediately. The game’s received a lot of criticism about how development has gone, with a particularly pointed frustration at how the company’s handled Bryan Henderson, the young man previously promised a prominent place in Godus that never materialized.

The second tweet was literally all about his retirement.

“This is also the time I would like to announce my retirement from the games industry,” the tweet from Molyneux’s hacked account read. “It has been a long journey for me. Thank you.”

A third, also not from the real Molyneux, claimed that Fable III was his biggest mistake.

It was only a matter of minutes before someone contacted the real Molyneux, however, and alerted him to what was going on.

“Ahh my account has been hacked, (you can tell cos they know how to spell) I am not retiring, not closing Godus,” the tweet from what one assumes to be the actual man, reads.

Ahh my account has been hacked, ( you can tell cos they know how to spell) I am not retiring, not closing godus

— peter molyneux (@pmolyneux) January 28, 2016

Molyneux’s something of an easy target for this kind of hoax given his longevity and habit of promising much while delivering little. There’s always a certain level of idealism that Molyneux exudes when talking about his video games prior to release that never seems to pan out. This was as true with the Fable series, with which he is no longer associated, as it is with the current Godus.

So, in short, Peter Molyneux is still at 22cans and still plugging away at Godus. For now.

Photo: tash lampard | Flickr