Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux has been appointed as creative director of European studios for Microsoft Games Studios.

Molyneux, who assumed the role on March 30, is now overseeing the creative direction of Lionhead Studios and Rare, in addition to other European external projects.

In an interview with us, Molyneux explains that he sees the role as one of guidance rather than directorship. "I’m not going to go into studios and start designing their games. It’s just using my experience to help people through the development process," he tells us. He also sees the position as a way of bringing the many activities at Microsoft's Redmond headquarters closer to the games studios in Europe. "Just with my experience with Milo and Microsoft Research, there’s a massive amount of technology and smart ideas within Microsoft Corporation, and just having someone like me that can be a conduit to that I think is incredibly useful."

Molyneux will remain based at Lionhead's studio in Guildford and closely involved with the two main projects currently in development there, Milo And Kate and a currently undisclosed one.

"With more than 20 years of game development experience and a string of landmark games to his credit including Populous, Syndicate, Theme Park, DungeonKeeper, Black & White and Fable, Molyneux will bring a unique set of skills and an in-depth understanding of the games development process to this newly created role,” Microsoft said in a statement.