Fable Legends Cancelled & Lionhead to shutdown

[Dark Drakan]

Looks like the final nail in the coffin has been dealt today as Microsoft have announced plans to close Lionhead Studios and the news that the in development title Fable Legends won't be making its way out of Beta and will be cancelled.

Danish studio Press Play is also gone. It created Max and the Curse of Brotherhood and Kalimba.

Lionhead Studios to close its doors

Here is Microsoft's statement in full:

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.
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[Albion Knight]

Worst Day ever

 

[DarkONI]

Well, I guess it's all over. I guess they had to shank Lionhead as it was probably one of the weakest links for Microsoft Studios, seeing how badly the Xbox One did so far.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Well, I guess it's all over. I guess they had to shank Lionhead as it was probably one of the weakest links for Microsoft Studios, seeing how badly the Xbox One did so far.

The Xbox One itself hasnt done badly as such, worse than the PS4 granted as PS4 was at 36 million when Xbox One was at 18 million but it is doing better than the 360 was at this point in the console cycle & sales are increasing.

 

[Zarkes]

I wonder what, if anything, will happen to the Fable IP.

It never was and never shall it be.

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

Sad day indeed.

Probably no coincidence the open beta was delayed. I'd guess they weren't pulling it together and Microsoft had the last straw. To be fair, they haven't put out anything to warrant their funding since Fable 2. I imagine if they hadn't been bought, this would've happened much sooner. It's sad to see 'em go. And worst of all, Fable is a Microsoft copyright so we may never get the revival we've been hoping for.

 

[KaveX]

This is some truly sad news. I've been playing Fable games before I was even a teenager. While Legends never really interested me, I would have bought a One to play Fable 4.

I hope Microsoft will at the very least allow another studio to create more Fable games (with proper respect to the originals).

 

[El Mosqueton]

It's their own fault, to be honest. That game should have been out as a launch title. Most of the talent was gone anyway.

 

[Hobbilis]

Logged in just to see how you guys will react. Expectations fulfilled.
Also, too bad it's ending up like this. I, for one, will never remove Fable:TLC from my #1 spot of all-time best titles. It's been standing there for quite some time now... haven't played anything like it...ever.

 

[Gikoku]

Was bound to happen eventually given how little fans voices were heard after Fable 3, but it's sad a lot of these people will be losing their jobs now. From what I saw of Legends it looked like it was going to actually be pretty good, even though it wasn't what I asked for.

On a more positive note, there's less roadblock in the way for them now to startup a new studio (or even join back with Peter) without the publisher chains and drum up a Kickstarter for a spiritual Fable successor. The original Rare devs did it with Yooka-Laylee (Banjo-Kazooie), wouldn't surprise me if the old Lionhead gang does the same. Best of luck to all them.

**** Microsoft.

 

[Quistrix]

Microsoft are a f*cking disgrace.

 

[Zarkes]

Microsoft are a f*cking disgrace.

There's a lot of rumors coming from inside Microsoft stating that this will be the last Xbox console they make. I don't believe this was malicious and Lionhead has always loved their relationship with Microsoft I think this is just the way things are headed.

From a Lionhead employee thought I'd share,
Lionhead Dev here: yup. Pretty sucky.

It's not finalised, but unless the production guys manage to get an entirely new IP deal, bad times ahead for us. Less so me than others, because I was finishing up anyway.

...Hey, do any of you handsome gentlemen in a games company have a build engineer position available? You should totally let me know if you do!

 

[free999enigma]

Hi Guys,

I made a video about this subject and i want to share with you

 

[Dark Drakan]

Was a business decision and we have lost many beloved developers over the years because of these decisions. Shame the team didn't seem to know anything about it in advance though as they were still hard at work and planning events and shows in next few weeks.

 

[Quistrix]

https://www.change.org/p/microsoft-...utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink

 

[Dark Drakan]

I have to say that I really liked Max: The Curse of Brotherhood too so sad to see them go also.

 

[Albion Knight]

Lionhead never wanted to make Journey or Legends Microsoft basically told them to make a brand new genre of game and make it cross platform which they did with amazing results but not in the time frame or results that Microsoft made and then changed again and again.

 

[BigDaddy]

If this is the last of the Fable franchise I'm very sad indeed, always enjoyed fable 1 & 2. I remember reading these boards all the time before the release of fable 3 and there was alot of hype back then. Shame they never listened to what people wanted in a fable game, to go back to it's roots.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Fable Legends Cancellation: Everything You Need to Know, Refunds, Final Date

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[Zarkes]

So what of us then? I mean is this thing over or what?