"Black & White" took over three years to develop beginning on 14 February 1998, and was released on 30 March 2001. Peter Molyneux funded the project himself and devoted his entire focus to its development. Molyneux stated that he tried to correct the mistakes he made with the game design of "Dungeon Keeper". The goal was to develop a unique game where players felt they inhabited a world where they could do anything. Molyneux had liked the idea of controlling people as a god since his previous venture, "Populous". He was interested in the concept of good and evil and thought that this could be used to influence the game's atmosphere. Development was slow, starting with only six people, as Molyneux wanted to assemble the right team. Discussions about concepts (including a Mafia-style game) began at his house in 1997, and in February 1998, the team moved into Lionhead's offices. The expanded nine-person team exchanged further suggestions for the game and its content, such as lip-synchronised characters, although this was thought impossible. As more people joined, Molyneux wanted Lionhead's friendly atmosphere to remain, and their policy of only recruiting people who could fit in with existing members meant that the team had developed their own way of working. According to Molyneux, team members questioned and competed with each other, resulting in a better quality of work. He said that "the team did the work of a group twice their number." The group that finally numbered twenty-five programmers with a budget of approximately £4 million.