Topic: RIP Lionhead

Not really a story for Push Square this, but I thought I'd make a thread regarding the closure of Lionhead. Crazy, unexpected news today, really. Even crazier is that Fable Legends — the game which has been development for a long time and shown at multiple events — has also been outright cancelled, despite presumably being almost finished.

Must admit, I wasn't a massive fan of Lionhead or Fable, but the developer was born out of Bullfrog, one of my favourite developers of all time. It's also just generally sad to see a big UK developer like this fold - especially when we don't have many left.

Feels like when Sony closed Studio Liverpool all over again.

Fable 1 and 2 were both great, whimsical action RPG's with a touch of Rareware (British) humor. That being said, this isn't all that surprising. Fable 3 was solid if not slightly disappointing, and everything afterwards was rubbish. Fable itself, as an IP, had been declining in popularity for sometime, and Legends didn't really look like it was going in the right direct to change that.

It still hurts

Such a shame to see Lionhead go, their Black & White series as well as Fable was a very popular God sim. I didn't play their games much but it's clear that there is a ton of talent there.

I hope they all land on their feet and continue to make super cool games.

I must admit I am always sad to hear of a studio closure and its never good to hear about people potentially losing their jobs. I quite enjoyed the previous Fable games and although not 'must haves' they were good fun. Fable Legends though didn't appeal at all and I couldn't care less if that was cancelled personally. I really thought the game was close to coming out as there was a video a week ago of an 'unboxing' of a Fable Legends custom console and controller so all indications were that this game was close to releasing.

I don't think it received a lot of positive feedback fro the community during recent Beta testing but in truth its not exactly what 'Fable' fans were wanting or expecting. Would Lionhead be in this position if they had made Fable 4 or created a new IP for this game instead of using the Fable licence? I guess we will never know.

Not only has MS closed Lionhead though, they have also closed 'Press Play Studios' (based in Denmark) the studio responsible for Max and the Curse of the Brotherhood and Kalimba.

Hopefully these people will find jobs and/or create another studio in their respective country.

@BAMozzy: I saw that about Press Play. Sad day. Like you say, I hope the devs find new jobs.

Got to imagine Media Molecule will take a handful of Lionhead developers, seeing as they're both based in Guildford.

It's always sad to hear about any place of business closing. It's a shame about games not being released but my concerns are the employees and how this will effect them and their families. I hope they all find jobs quick enough.

What I hear is that this in part was to do with the poor reception to Fable Legends in the Beta. Lets be honest though, the majority of people who would be partaking in the Beta are fans of Fable. Fable is an RPG and legends was a 4v1 co-op 'adventure'. I can't see the average Fallout fan being that interested in Evolve and being disappointed if Fallout 4 had been like that although the 1 in this case was supposedly more like a 'tower defence/RTS' game. Never the less its not exactly 'Fable'.
It was supposedly F2P which may also have had an impact trying to recuperate the development cost.
I don't expect we will ever really know the reasoning behind the decision...

Shame, never played a fable game, was legends due to come out on PS4 at all? Very much of the opinion that RPG is the greatest gaming genre.

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi: Legends was an Xbox console exclusive although it was also due to come out on PC and feature cross platform play. It wasn't an RPG though like the previous Fable games. Lionhead were one of the studios under Microsoft (I believe) and so wouldn't have released games on PS

@BAMozzy: aye, my brother used to play them on xbox I believe, I wondered if this gen may have differed.

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi: Yeah, Microsoft owned Lionhead, otherwise I would have posted on the homepage. They've been around for many, many years, though, and were independent (I believe) at one point.

Ouch. That stinks. I did like Fable 2 when I played it, and it was really the only game I played by them.

Always hate to see a studio close, even if a figurehead is a moron.

not to be mean but I'm sure Fable Legends would have flopped if released so it may make sense to cancel it

Really sad to see people lose there jobs, especially from a British developer but it seems like it's part of a complete reconstruction of the Xbox division. With so many of their exclusives making it's way to PC as well they are pretty much giving up any reason to own an Xbox one at this rate, largely so they can push Windows 10 as a platform. But even then people are happy with their UWD initiative going down like a lead balloon because developers are worried that they are trying to make PC a closed platform. It simply boils down to Microsoft been scared, there scared of Apple and Samsung's dominance in the phone and tablet markets, there scared of Valve's monopoly in PC gaming and there scared of the rising power of Internet corporations like Google and Amazon muscling on their turf. To then lose a significant chunk in the gaming console space to Sony ends up rubbing salt into the wound. Even Phil Spencer has had to fend off criticism on Twitter from core Xbox fans for games like Quantum Break going on PC. I said all the back in late 2013 that the Xbox one is a console without a vision, many of the supposed key features were ditched just months after the announcement of the thing. Even the Kinect was dropped after six months and some people think Sony don't support their platforms. At the end of the day Microsoft allowed their closest competitor to dictate their console and have to take incredible losses just to try to keep the thing even remotely competitive. And while the console is tracking ahead of 360 you have to wonder if sales are going to plateau soon because if games like Gears and Forza and Halo and Tomb Raider in the same year didn't help them make significant gains on the PS4 then nothing else will. Hence the move to learn more towards the PC market, problem is that they burned their bridges before and in that time Steam has gotten a much bigger influence on the market. Phil Spencer has got quite a job on.

@adf86:

Really though, I reckon sales would have been absolutely dismal had they continued with the original online / kinect focused Xbox One. People forget how hostile people were at that notion during 2013 and early 2014.....so in a way, it's good that they they stripped away some of that uniqueness (if you want to call it that).

I reckon the best bet for the Xbox One would have been to focus on exclusives and becoming the hardcore console of this gen, while they ready a new console that would prempt the PS5. However, yeah, their obsession over Windows 10 and winning mass appeal seems to be putting a dent into those plans (they were on the right track until this year IMO).

sad story, though I was never a huge Fan of Fable and always thought it is the perfect example of "promises not fullfilled" (mister molyneux is like a specialist in that department, bein overly excited over his own "meh" products, sorry to all the fans, just my opinion) - Its always head shaking and sad when a studio closes (whats the reason for it anyway does anyone know?) - especially sorry for the people workin there.

@consolfreak1982: According to reports, maybe speculation, but Fable Legends was poorly received. It was a 'shell' of its former self and the staff were all geared to making games like Fable Legends and not experienced in making Fable 4. According to MS, they are closing Lionhead to spend more time and energy making games that the core Xbox owners want to play.

As for UWP and the Windows Store, I get the impression that it will work alongside Steam, Origin etc on PC. Certain games, like Quantum Break, Halo, Gears of War will NOT be available via Steam or other 'digital' stores. You can probably buy these on Disc for PC, just like you can buy games that are available through Steam/Origin/EA Access etc and these will still be playable on PC. All the Windows Store will do, is give you access to those specific games and that includes many of the games originally on Xbox 360 too (no doubt) - games that aren't necessarily available on PC through other sources. Its kind of like giving PC gamers the Xbox experience on their Win10 PC and NOT stopping them access Steam or other ways to game.

As for the decisions MS made 'BEFORE' they actually released the console, most of them never made it to the final product. It happens with games too - the original concept and features don't always make it to the final release - The Division (for example - as it released today) scrapped tablet support. Its not the first game that announced certain things that didn't make it. Personally I am glad that MS back tracked - at least it shows they listened to feedback and reacted. It would have been FAR worse if they had carried on regardless. For all we know, the PS4 could have had similar features but because MS went first and Sony heard the reaction, they may have changed their briefing to take out those features from the announcement. Point is though, the released Xbox One wasn't the announced one. The people in charge of Xbox, their vision etc, has changed too so its not the same. Its kind of like saying Leicester City are the same as 2 years ago - even though they have a different manager and some new players.

Modern day consoles evolve too. Even if Hardware stays the same, features etc can be added and change a console. Over the last 2 generations, we have seen a number of changes from the launch of a console to where they are now. The PS3 and XB360 added more media capabilities, media apps etc. The current gen has added features that weren't available at launch too. XB1's Dashboard has had a complete revamp - mind you so did the XB360's - and a lot of the issues associated with the XB1 at launch are no longer an issue as well as a number of improvements. The PS4 has addressed some issues and made improvements too. I would say that BOTH are 'different' experiences now to how they launched - particularly if you use them for more than just gaming solo.

I am NOT defending MS or its decisions to close studios, launch with Kinect only, obsessing over Win10 at the apparent detriment to the Xbox (although it could be beneficial too in the long term) etc as I don't know the full story or what the future holds. I can't say I agree with everything they have done, but then I feel the same about Sony too - not everything they decide/say etc I agree with. I maybe be disappointed by certain news etc and not know/see the long term effect but I am willing to see what the future holds, both in hardware and software and for both Sony and MS.

Fable was great - the voice acting was amazing, like a fantasy version of only fools and horses.

Pity they have gone.