Lionhead Studios (1996-2016)

Today marks the end of the developer studio behind the Fable game series renowned by many within the Xbox community after twenty long years of service under Microsoft.

https://news.xbox.com/2016/03/07/microsoft-studios-changes-uk-denmark/

Today, I have some difficult changes to announce that affect some of our Microsoft Studios teams and projects in the UK and Denmark.

After much consideration we have decided to cease development on Fable Legends, and are in discussions with employees about the proposed closure of Lionhead Studios in the UK. Additionally, we will close Press Play Studios in Denmark, and sunset development on Project Knoxville.

These have been tough decisions and we have not made them lightly, nor are they a reflection on these development teams – we are incredibly fortunate to have the talent, creativity and commitment of the people at these studios. The Lionhead Studios team has delighted millions of fans with the Fable series over the past decade. Press Play imbued the industry with a unique creative spirit behind games like Max: The Curse of Brotherhood and Kalimba, which both captured passionate fans. These changes are taking effect as Microsoft Studios continues to focus its investment and development on the games and franchises that fans find most exciting and want to play.

I speak for all of Xbox when I say that despite this news, we remain committed to the development communities in the UK and Europe, and Xbox will continue to support new IP and originality in the games we offer on our platforms, whether they’re AAA blockbusters like Quantum Break from Remedy, adventurous new IPs like Sea of Thieves from Rare, or unique new creations from independent developers like Moon Studios with Ori.

We have nothing but heart-felt thanks for the members of Lionhead and Press Play for their contributions to Xbox and gaming. We are committed to working closely with those affected by today’s news to find them new opportunities at Xbox, or partnering with the broader development community to help place them in jobs elsewhere in the games industry should they desire.

For some reason I thought Lionhead was already closed.

Fable was pretty good

Fable II was okay.

Fable 3 was trash.

Absolute garbage. Great graphics, but EVERYTHING else sucked.

Originally posted by Jmanghan
Fable was pretty good

Fable II was okay.

Fable 3 was trash.

Absolute garbage. Great graphics, but EVERYTHING else sucked.

The first story was the best one. Tbh I never even played 3 though.

Never played the third one, Sounds like i should avoid it

they should give the rights to CD Projekt.

Well 343 Industries and The Coalition were founded by Microsoft to continue making more Halo and Gears of War games after their original developers left so I can't see why they wouldn't create another studio dedicated to the Fable brand also. Fable III was terrible. This is fact but that shouldn't condemn the franchise as a whole. It has potential. I really want there to be a Fable 4.

Originally posted by Kazenji
they should give the rights to CD Projekt.

That would be something.

They could do that, but you have to wonder if the Fable brand is really worth such an investment for MS, the games just don't have the same kind of drawing power that Halo and GoW does.

Originally posted by BackFire
They could do that, but you have to wonder if the Fable brand is really worth such an investment for MS, the games just don't have the same kind of drawing power that Halo and GoW does.

First Fable sold 2 million units, Fable II sold 4 million, Fable III sold a million more believe it or not. It kept drawing more people per sequel (except for Fable Journey of course being a Kinect title) so, yes, the brand would appear to be worth investing.

Loved the first game. The next two were very disappointing. I still liked the fable franchise and am disheartened by this news. Hopefully this franchise won't be dead forever.

I loved the first game. I actually really liked the 2nd game too. I haven't played much of the 3rd.

One problem the first game faced was broken promises. All this stuff that was said to be in the game turned out to not make it into the game. So the game was good on it's own(especially with the expansion) and if they'd just not made promises they couldn't keep I feel like it would of gotten even more favorable reviews. But some people only saw what wasn't in the game as opposed to just looking at the game itself and judging it on that.

Anyone playing the first game should just get the "Lost Chapters" version. The normal game is too short IMO.

Though it sucks because I feel like if they did ever make a 4th Fable game and they learned from the things that didn't work in the first 3 games and kept in the stuff that didn't work..they could of made a truly great game.

They need to go back to the medieval era. First game was awesome. They got worse afterwards.

If you acknowledge that this is one of the shallowest RPGs in terms of gameplay then you can find it a lot more enjoyable honestly.

Originally posted by Based
If you acknowledge that this is one of the shallowest RPGs in terms of gameplay then you can find it a lot more enjoyable honestly.

Same could be said about alot of other game franchises in that case.

Here is hoping that the IPs of the studio are sold to Konami so they can make Pachinko machines out of them.

R.I.P.

No, I think the peeps above are right that MS will probably hold onto the IP's and create a new studio to do a new Fable game.

I will be surprised if it's for the Xbox One. Maybe the next console after this?

I went from fable one to dragon age origins my favorite game of all time.

Originally posted by Based
If you acknowledge that this is one of the shallowest RPGs in terms of gameplay then you can find it a lot more enjoyable honestly.

It's basically an action game with a few RPG-like qualities. I think that is what people need to keep in mind when it comes to the gameplay. It has exp you can invest in a variety of things, but it doesn't have the loads and loads of different abilities available like you'd find in a game geared towards a more "pure" kind of RPG.