ElBoxyBrown
Banned
I think this is Microsoft's second time they have closed down a studio. The first being Ensemble Studios. Holy shit. Lionhead was a pretty big first-party for them.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Lionhead Studios and Press Play closed. Fable legends cancelled.
- Thread starter chadskin
- Start date
StarBlazers1
Member
Very Sad. But if the money is diverted to other more traditional projects rather than 2 F2P games, I'm ok with it. Sad for the lost jobs though. I hope everyone lands on their feet.
They made Max: The Curse of Brotherhood.
chaobreaker
Member
https://twitter.com/LionheadStudios
Their twitter hints of nothing of this closure since it's last tweet on the 4th. Maybe it was a sudden closure?
Their twitter hints of nothing of this closure since it's last tweet on the 4th. Maybe it was a sudden closure?
thekiddfran
Member
The Halo+Forza yearly recycle continues so.
SomedayTheFire
Member
"proposed" closure means it's closed but they're talking severance packages with employees.
Ghazgulsmash
Neo Member
Why not close Lift London + all the new Hololens studios since they are worthless. No they would rather shut down their only RPG studio. I was happy with my Xbox didn't give a bleep about the always online being bundled with Kinect, etc but closing first party studios for a company that has, Sorry I'm pissed off.
DoctorFling
Member
Wow, that's a shocker. I'll always love them for The Movies, as a kid it was the most fun thing ever.
UnderWaterTree
Member
man end of an era
People still hoping for Xbox? It's over if NX sells like hot cakes.
Battletech IP is doing fine, Kameo isn't a 'franchise' and neither is Conker and Brute Force
lol even bringing up Brute Force anyway
TheDinoman
Member
I wonder how much longer Rare is gonna last at this point, honestly.
It was going to be, until they canceled the sequel that was being worked on, lol.
It was going to be, until they canceled the sequel that was being worked on, lol.
InsaneTiger
Member
Looking forward to the any in depth articles into what happened. Something like this doesn't just happen on a coin flip.
RIP Lionhead and Press Play. Fable I-III, Max and Kalimba were great games. : /
I felt like LH and PP were moving in the wrong direction with Fable Legends and Project Knoxville, but I didn't want to see them being shut down.
I hope the people affected will land on their feet soon. They've made some really fun games.
On a side note, this doesn't really fill me with confidence regarding the Xbox brand. They should be opening up more studios, not closing some of the few they have.
I felt like LH and PP were moving in the wrong direction with Fable Legends and Project Knoxville, but I didn't want to see them being shut down.
I hope the people affected will land on their feet soon. They've made some really fun games.
On a side note, this doesn't really fill me with confidence regarding the Xbox brand. They should be opening up more studios, not closing some of the few they have.
Father_Brain
Banned
Press Play shutting down? Shit, I just finished Max: TCoB a week or so ago and really enjoyed it. 
schlongdog
Banned
For the best, all the Fable games were mediocre anyway
XOne is selling better than X60 why would you start closing your studios now? is it because of their expectation from both consoles?
Still when you have the weakest first party studios among the three and then close some of them AFTER you emphasized on how important they're to you?!
Still when you have the weakest first party studios among the three and then close some of them AFTER you emphasized on how important they're to you?!
Monty Mole
Member
Not too surprised about Lionhead, they've been a mess for a while now.
But that's also a real shame over Press Play - they were only purchased by MS a couple of years back. I'm sure they'll wish they never made that decision - they showed real talent with the Max games.
I can't help but think this is a sign of some big changes to come - we're already seeing the integration of Xbox/Windows store as a big shift. Xbox as a brand is basically becoming Microsoft's TV version of Surface.
But that's also a real shame over Press Play - they were only purchased by MS a couple of years back. I'm sure they'll wish they never made that decision - they showed real talent with the Max games.
I can't help but think this is a sign of some big changes to come - we're already seeing the integration of Xbox/Windows store as a big shift. Xbox as a brand is basically becoming Microsoft's TV version of Surface.
JetSetRadio
Banned
No Black and White 3 announcement this E3?
meh
meh
In the UK if you have over a certain number of employees you want to let go, you have to go into consultation for 30 days to determine whether that is really necessary and if there are alternatives. Realistically this is just lip service though and HR will have done due diligence to make sure it happens.
Basically a free 30 days to get your CV sorted out and start looking for work.
Papacheeks
Banned
And it starts.........
ShadowSwordmaster
Banned
It had to happen one day.
In addition to the stellar legacy of games that came out of that studio over the years, and the pedigree of its staff. I saw they also were working on a non-Fable project, do we know anything about that?
Good luck to folks at both Lionhead and Press Play. I'm sure you'll be making game magic elsewhere soon.
Cow Goes Moo
Member
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
That is because Battletech itself is owned by Topps now.
Mechwarrior seems to be dead for gaming. :/
BibiMaghoo
Member
It can be released now honestly it's missing a lot of optimization and finalized story content but it's really fun to play.
iNvid02
Member
LH: "we're not really feeling the appeal of uwp, mind if we stick with win32 and steam?"
MS: "let me think about it"
MS: "RIP. ANYONE ELSE?!"
Lionhead has been pretty quiet since Molyneux left, they made that Fable brawler, the remake and now legends but those all felt like in between projects, I never thought they were in troubled though I just assumed the main thing they were working on was a real tent pole release.
I guess whatever else they were working (we've seen concept art in the background of videos a few times) on didn't stack up. But to ditch that AND Fable Legends before it even comes out...can only assume the closed beta didn't go well and Lionhead didn't have suitable answers as to why.
Don't know if things have changed but I thought Lionhead was a couple hundred people, hope they all land on their feet.
I guess whatever else they were working (we've seen concept art in the background of videos a few times) on didn't stack up. But to ditch that AND Fable Legends before it even comes out...can only assume the closed beta didn't go well and Lionhead didn't have suitable answers as to why.
Don't know if things have changed but I thought Lionhead was a couple hundred people, hope they all land on their feet.
They only really exist for their name as is. When Sea of Thieves predictably doesn't live up to the Rare legacy (particularly due to taking part in a genre outside of the studios' experience) I'd expect a closure of the studio not long after.
Similar threads
- Locked
- Locked