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Microsoft has announced it will be shutting down UK developer Lionhead Studios and cancelling the development of its upcoming action-RPG, Fable Legends.
The unexpected news was broken by Microsoft Studios Europe's general manager, Hanno Lemke, who also announced the shuttering of Denmark-based Press Play Studios - the creator of Kalimba, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, and Tentacles: Enter the Mind.
Lionhead, formerly led by veteran game developer Peter Molyneux, was acquired by Microsoft in April 2006.
The studio, which made a name for itself with titles including the god game Black & White, was the driving force behind Microsoft's Fable franchise, and had been working on what would've been the next entry in the series, Fable Legends, since 2012.
Writing on Xbox Wire, Lemke spoke of the "difficult changes" Microsoft was making in order to "focus its investment and development on the games and franchises that fans find most exciting and want to play."
Although Lemke states that Microsoft is only talking to Lionhead employees about the "proposed closure" of the studio, it seems the shuttering is an inevitability at this stage.
"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," added Lemke.
"These have been tough decisions and we have not made them lightly, nor are they a reflection on these development teams.
"We have nothing but heart-felt thanks for the members of Lionhead and Press Play for their contributions to Xbox and gaming."
My thoughts?
And nothing of value was lost. The only thing lost was, in my opinion, one of the most overhyped and underpreforming franchises in history.
Eh, I enjoyed the Fable games. Not amazing, but good enough. My wife still tells me "OOH, you're so norty!" from time to time.
It's not good news for the UK gaming development scene though. I imagine that is skilled work with decent wages.
We were once so close to heaven, St. Peter came out and gave us medals; declaring us "The nicest of the damned".
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”
And that it was a Fable game. I mean, let's be honest, has any of the main Fable games really been great? Fable 1 was so short to be a joke, Fable 2 was just awful and 3 had sparks of potential only to be crushed by the interface and story ending.
The best one ever hears about Fable was "oh I had fun". Not a hallmark of greatness.
I liked Fable. My wife adored it. We still make "your health is low" jokes when we're sick, and "just the right amount of foam" upon exiting the bathroom still makes my wife shoot a disapproving look my way.
Literally the only reason anyone plays games ever.
I feel like The problem at Lionhead (and with Fable) could have been solved by removing Molyneux, rather than the entirety of the studio. That's a lot of British developers out of work.
We were once so close to heaven, St. Peter came out and gave us medals; declaring us "The nicest of the damned".
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”
Nostromodamus wrote: I liked Fable. My wife adored it. We still make "your health is low" jokes when we're sick, and "just the right amount of foam" upon exiting the bathroom still makes my wife shoot a disapproving look my way.
I loved it. And I'm not even sorry.
It's no Skyrim, but it had mischievous charm and a lot of good ideas.
The people I know that were in the beta for Fable Legends had a good time with it so a bit surprised the game was cancelled but not so much the studio, just thought the game that was practically finished would have been released first. I suppose with the online nature of it they would have had to keep it going to long even after letting most go though so I guess it makes some sense.
Amidst the mists and coldest frosts he thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts.
I liked B&W 2 and the original Fable, but 2 and 3 were huge let-downs not because they were bad games, but because they were Molyneux'd, and couldn't have been more overhyped. I missed the hype for F1 so I wasn't disappointed, but I was very much so for 2 and 3.
I'll miss Lionhead. They did well coping with Molyneux's ADHD attitude to making games, and managed to deliver not objectively bad games despite Molyneux promising far more than was actually possible, never mind what was delivered in the end. I got the distinct impression that he never spoke to any of the developers about what was possible before opening his mouth. Hell, I doubt he ever deigned to descend from his Ivory Tower to discuss these things at all.
I feel sorry for the workers who had to put up with his gak.
Mandorallen turned back toward the insolently sneering baron. 'My Lord,' The great knight said distantly, 'I find thy face apelike and thy form misshapen. Thy beard, moreover, is an offence against decency, resembling more closely the scabrous fur which doth decorate the hinder portion of a mongrel dog than a proper adornment for a human face. Is it possibly that thy mother, seized by some wild lechery, did dally at some time past with a randy goat?' - Mimbrate Knight Protector Mandorallen.
Excerpt from "Seeress of Kell", Book Five of The Malloreon series by David Eddings.
"You need not fear us, unless you are a dark heart, a vile one who preys on the innocent; I promise, you can’t hide forever in the empty darkness, for we will hunt you down like the animals you are, and pull you into the very bowels of hell." Iron - Within Temptation
I love the Fable series - sweet, charming games with bags of humour.
The Fable 2 pub games cost me a whole weekend last year. Bloody addictive!
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
Molyneux invented the God Game genre with Populous, and will live in video game history forever for that. Unfortunately, since then, his main skill has been as a PR friendly senior developer. His games, in themselves, have been developments of the original Populous concept.
Sorry to hear this- though only the loss of employment for the main workforce. I'm glad, however, to be seeing a break in Peter Molyneux's bs. He seriously over eggs the quality of his games which then fall short of expectations.
Kilkrazy wrote: Molyneux invented the God Game genre with Populous, and will live in video game history forever for that. Unfortunately, since then, his main skill has been as a PR friendly senior developer. His games, in themselves, have been developments of the original Populous concept.
Kilkrazy wrote: Molyneux invented the God Game genre with Populous, and will live in video game history forever for that. Unfortunately, since then, his main skill has been as a PR friendly senior developer. His games, in themselves, have been developments of the original Populous concept.
Just throwing "Richard Garriott" in here ;P
Lord British never seemed to go to the extremes that Molyneux did, though, when playing up his product. And iirc, he'd been relatively quiet since leaving Origin. Even when he was with NCSoft, I don't remember *that* much from him.
Someone who *has* been putting me in that sort of mind recently is Chris Roberts, and his ambitious promises for Star Citizen. That's not to say that I think Roberts will deliver a poor game. I've every confidence that he'll deliver a good game, but I sometimes wonder about some of the things that Roberts is promising for the game.
I quite liked all 3 Fable games, and loved the quirky British humour. But then, I never paid attention to Molyneux's ramb!ing and so the hype never influenced me and I could appreciate it for what it was as opposed to the promises it failed to live up to.
Shadow Captain Edithae wrote: I quite liked all 3 Fable games, and loved the quirky British humour. But then, I never paid attention to Molyneux's ramb!ing and so the hype never influenced me and I could appreciate it for what it was as opposed to the promises it failed to live up to.
But what the series was was pretty darn disappointing to me.
I mean, come on, did you really enjoy the ending of Fable 2 for what it was? Did you really enjoy the ultimate grind for coins with an erratic calendar that Fable 3 was?
Shadow Captain Edithae wrote: I quite liked all 3 Fable games, and loved the quirky British humour. But then, I never paid attention to Molyneux's ramb!ing and so the hype never influenced me and I could appreciate it for what it was as opposed to the promises it failed to live up to.
But what the series was was pretty darn disappointing to me.
I mean, come on, did you really enjoy the ending of Fable 2 for what it was? Did you really enjoy the ultimate grind for coins with an erratic calendar that Fable 3 was?
Lucien was a weak boss, but otherwise I enjoyed fable 2 overall. The random calender in fable 3 was infuriating, but as for the money grind , I always played all the fable games that way anyway. I played like a pseudo completionist, and I tried to buy out all the real estate before the end. I'm not saying the series wasnt over hyped, because it was. But I largely ignored the hype and therefore had lower expectations. The series did definitely decline in quality over time. I'd give lost chapters 8/10, fable 2 7/10, fable 3 6/10.
Fable was one of those games that were a big part of my childhood, like battlefront, halo, call of duty, elder scrolls oblivion and Kotor.
There were plenty of crap star wars games over the years but fans still held out hope for a good star wars game. I'm like that with Fable, which is why im disappointed Microsoft appears to be euthanizing the IP. (Not that I'm in any way equating the Fable IP to star wars, they're leagues apart by a magnitude of light years).
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2016/03/10 06:30:48
Kilkrazy wrote: Molyneux invented the God Game genre with Populous, and will live in video game history forever for that. Unfortunately, since then, his main skill has been as a PR friendly senior developer. His games, in themselves, have been developments of the original Populous concept.
He has lost all his credibility now. Dungeon Keeper was his last good game (and that's 20 years old), some of this games at Lionhead were okish but even there the hype he generated was simply not matched by the product. Black and White 2 also ranks as one of the worst games that I have ever played.
His time at 22Cans has been a complete disaster. Firstly the 'cube' clicker game (the winner of which is now unlikely to see a single penny of his 'prize') and then the whole Godus (and now Godus wars) debacle which will now probably never be released in a finished state despite being the best thing ever!1!
His time in the sun is now well past and he has become a frankly pitiable figure.
As for Lionhead I really don't care. I haven't played any of their games for at least a decade.
It's strange, there was a feeling that came over me when i played Fable for the first time - a sense of interest and wonder and I can honestly say it's one of my favorite games to date.
The rest? gak, really.
Fable 2 and 3 were so...meh, I only ever played them once and afterwards I can safely say that I was annoyed that I'd spent 60 bucks on them.
Black and White? Jesus fething christ. feth BOTH of those games. The first one was a novel idea, yeah, but my god, it was im-fething-possible to beat. Same goes for B+W2, even more so because the novelty was nonexistent by then.
It's a shame to see a relic of my youngsterhood go the way of the do-do, but eh, hopefully this means that the void left by their passing can be filled by a company that makes quality content.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/03/11 18:30:13
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