Molyneux hopes to release a downloadable Godus prototype by Christmas

Project Godus, the Kickstarter-funded Populous "reinvention" from original developer Peter Molyneux's new studio, 22Cans, may have a downloadable prototype by Christmas, Molyneux told Joystiq.

Molyneux framed his goal as a pact he's making with Kickstarter backers.

"I hope by Christmas we have a prototype that people can download and say, 'Actually, you know what, they're already doing good work,'" Molyneux said. "And this is what needs to happen with Kickstarter and games. The promises ... wouldn't it be amusing if I was the one to prove this right? These promises have to result in great games."

Godus' Kickstarter funding project launched last month, aiming for release on multiple platforms in September 2013. As of this writing, it has raised £193,823 of its £450,000 goal with 18 days to go. With Godus, Molyneux hopes to reinvigorate the genre, which he said is "now defined by titles like CityVille."

22Cans' first game, Curiosity, a social game that tasks players with tapping away layers of a giant cube to reveal its contents to a single player, launched earlier this year.