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[mcrommert]

Welcome to corporate world.

If we are being honest with ourselves...welcome to any job ever that is eliminated...in the gaming world it is usually whole studios...would love to know the reason for the closure though especially press play

lionhead is sort of self explanatory...their games have declined in quality since fable 1 and 2, they have never made money, and fable legends has been in a way too long dev cycle for what it is.

 

[etta]

Sad news to wake up to. I was planning to play Fable Legends when it would officially release.

 

[The Boat]

Does any studio survive Microsoft? Hope everyone finds a good job.

 

[Wedge7]

Lol, what a mess this game must have been. Looked so crappy when it was first unveiled, seemed like the common consensus was "This is not what we wanted". Some low quality online type of game is not what I wanted when it came to Fable.

The bigger news being Lionhead being closed, but even then, I realized that I had this vision of them in the glory days of the studio, and what have they really released in the last while that was actually a high quality title. They had that shitty Kinect game, and some other lower quality releases. Felt like they had lost the luster a while ago. I mean, it's always sad when people lose jobs, but once I got over the initial shock, it doesn't really seem like we are losing too much of value.

Sad to think that at one point Fable seemed like one of the biggest franchises for Microsoft, a big AAA RPG franchise that was a core staple. Then the games started getting worse and worse.

 

[Jerm411]

Well that sucks...sorry for all those affected.

I wonder which studio takes over the mainline Fable games now...

 

[viveks86]

Yikes! That's brutal!

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

How the hell did this happen? Fable 2 and 3 were huge...

Fable: Heroes and The Journey weren't. This was going to be the third bad game in the series.

 

[dancrane212]

I can't imagine Rare being in a great position either. If Sea of Thieves is a bomb they might be axed.

I wonder if Rare getting more attention from Microsoft was a factor in Lionhead's closing. If Rare was going to staff up for Sea of Thieves perhaps Microsoft didn't have the support to keep another UK studio around specially one working on a free to play release which MS seem to be cutting down on.

 

[Estocolmo]

a XBLA title, the on-rails kinect game, then this. these came after Fable III which people disliked.

Lots of people acting like they were putting out tons of amazing games from Fable 1 to now.

And Fable Anniversary aswell. Came out 2014.

 

[IvanJ]

Given the sudden cancellation of an almost finished game, I'd be crapping my pants right now if I were working on Crackdown 3.
That franchise is much weaker and less important than Fable, a poor showing this summer could mean the axe.

 

[Brutal Deluxe]

What a shame. Only got access to this very recently and thought it showed promise.

Good luck to all members of the studio

 

[mcrommert]

it's actually easier to set up a new studio then fix a broken one lol

This cannot be overstated...history and culture is very difficult to overcome

 

[SplitYourInfinities]

So, the future for the Xbox brand doesn't look that bright today... I mean, it was pretty clear that the One was going to be their last dedicated console, but if they are closing studios like Lionhead this maybe means that they are also leaving the videogame industry...

 

[Jameson]

Wild guess here, maybe Phil/Xbox needed the money to make a play for another Studio(aka remedy)

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Hope those losing jobs land on their feet. Never fun to lose a job.

 

[Mandelbo]

Woah, that's completely out of the blue, especially given how public they'd been about Legends.

 

[Kill3r7]

it's actually easier to set up a new studio then fix a broken one lol

Really? If so, where are all these NEW first party studios making AAA games for the big 3?

 

[PanicFreak]

Microsoft does things that I'll honestly never understand. I could see Lionhead being an expensive studio to run but wouldn't it be better to keep the creative team intact and have them work on something new? And Press Play? They can't be that expensive to run.

 

[DeepEnigma]

While I was not into Fable at all, the first one felt like an 'RPG Lite' when I first played it on the PC at the time compared to the more in depth ones the PC was stacked with, I really feel for the developers, etc.. I hope they land right back on their feet right away.

 

[JaggedSac]

Fable: Heroes and Journey weren't. This was going to be the third bad game in the series.

Yes, yes it was. They added some daily challenges and stuff, but the loot and gear collection just wasnt where it needed to be for me to come back at any frequent rate. Which is bad news for a f2p game. Wish they would have made a Fable proper. Terrible news and hope all the devs land on their feet.

 

[Vinterbird]

Can peeps share what the game was like despite the nda? I thought it was coming out any month now. Hope those people find new jobs quickly!

It was alright. Left 4 Dead in the Fable universe.

Hopefully the servers are still up, and someone grabs a bunch of video. The had a good look going and was using UE4 really well.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

So, the future for the Xbox brand doesn't look that bright today... I mean, it was pretty clear that the One was going to be their last dedicated console, but if they are closing studios like Lionhead this maybe means that they are also leaving the videogame industry...

They will not leave the videogame industry, but they will focus on PC gaming and will try to take the piece of the pie off Steam's plate.

 

[tapedeck]

TBH the game looked completely forgettable from the trailers and previews. But still damn was not expecting a full closing of the studio, hopefully they find work elsewhere.

 

[Pooya]

How the hell did this happen? Fable 2 and 3 were huge...

It's really astonishing, I posted Fable II debut sales couple of pages back and now it came down to this. I'm not sure what it can be pinned down on other than incompetency. I'm not even talking about quality of the game, they were selling quite well.

 

[mcrommert]

So, the future for the Xbox brand doesn't look that bright today... I mean, it was pretty clear that the One was going to be their last dedicated console, but if they are closing studios like Lionhead this maybe means that they are also leaving the videogame industry...

Seriously with this shit here too...Studios get closed all the time...lets not read more into this than there is

 

[Leflus]

It always did really well in UK . Then Fable Kinect happened, then that whatever heroes happened then this Legend happened. They were crazy. Gotta be one of the most mismanaged franchises in vg history, up there with C&C!

It boggles my mind how mismanaged the Fable franchise has been the past 6-7 years.

Fable Collection? Nah. Fable IV? Nope. Kinect game? Why not. Multiplayer game? Sure!

I hope someone writes a book about LH someday.

 

[Obliterator]

How the hell did this happen? Fable 2 and 3 were huge...

Well Fable 3 was huge but received pretty poorly by the fanbase. Then they developed the Kinect Fable which bombed spectacularly, and spent forever and presumably a ton of money on Fable Legends.

Its such a shame they should have just put all resources into a well polished Fable 4

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

It will be interesting to see where all of the talent goes.

 

[Shard]

How the hell did this happen? Fable 2 and 3 were huge...

The departure of Peter.

 

[Caffeine]

fable was basically growing with each game till those shit kinect titles

 

[Pimpbaa]

Why would they do this so close to Fable Legends release? Unless the game was in such a state that MS didn't want to release another botched Windows 10 game after Gears of War UE.

 

[keltickennedy]

Nah, Fable 3 was the start.

Good point.

 

[hwalker84]

Honestly Press Play is more surprising than Lionhead to me.

 

[nib95]

What the hell. Whilst I can't say I've loved their recent work, Black and White was incredible, early Fable too.

I really fear Rare might go the same way one of these days, which to me would be an even greater travesty given their legacy and past IP's. Please for the love of God Microsoft don't let that happen. Stop canning their ideas and concepts, and let them just go with something they truly love and believe in the first time around.

I hope everyone affected lands on their feet and has better fortune going forward.

 

[milkybar1983]

 

[Jito]

Guess this is what happens when you try to reinvent a game that doesn't need changing.

Who ever asked for Fable to become a online VS only game and not a single player RPG lite? If it's true that they were working on what they wanted to create, then they should have seen this coming. Fable Legends was going to flop hard.

 

[VincentMatts]

The departure of Peter.

That stupid Kinect game. Not releasing a game that actually makes $ for years.

 

[Savantcore]

Sorry if this has been posted already. From 5 days ago;

 

[Jarmel]

Microsoft has no clue what to do with their IPs.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

So, the future for the Xbox brand doesn't look that bright today... I mean, it was pretty clear that the One was going to be their last dedicated console, but if they are closing studios like Lionhead this maybe means that they are also leaving the videogame industry...

I don't buy this at all. They will have another console.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Oh come on.

Crackdown?
Scalebound?
Quantum Break?
Killer Instinct?
Recore?
Sea of Thieves?
State of Decay?

All MS IPs.

It's a damn shame that the devs at Lionhead are most likely losing their jobs and that the Fable franchise will be put on ice, but let's not get crazy.

How many of those are proven franchises with a track record of sales?

Crackdown? Hasn't had a game in half a decade and that one was mediocre at best. KI? Revived after damn near 20 years. The rest on your list are completely new and largely unknown games that may or may not ever get sequels or become franchises. There's certainly no reason to assume any of them will see 3 or 4 games in their lifetimes now is there?

Sure any of them could potentially get a life like Fable had and become a new pillar in the MS/Xbox world. Or...more likely they go the way of MechAssault, Crimson Skies, Kameo and Perfect Dark as games good enough to have warranted sequels and franchises that will never get them because reasons. Based on history, I'd suggest you don't hold your breath if you're waiting on any of the games you listed to become true franchises for MS.

 

[ironcreed]

Good times:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCXTmBAk5C0

 

[Warxard]

Nah, Fable 3 was the start.

Fable 3 sold incredibly well

 

[Alienous]

So, the future for the Xbox brand doesn't look that bright today... I mean, it was pretty clear that the One was going to be their last dedicated console, but if they are closing studios like Lionhead this maybe means that they are also leaving the videogame industry...

I could see Microsoft wanting to become more like Valve than like Sony when it comes to games, considering their recent moves. Why sell hardware when you have a popular software platform to sell games from?

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

How the hell did this happen? Fable 2 and 3 were huge...

Did Fable 3 sell more than 2?

 

[Rad-]

Wow surprised about the closing of Lionhead Studios. I mean all the main Fable games sold really well.

I have a feeling Rare is next. Rare games aren't really PC-like and that's the direction MS seems to be now heading with Xbox.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

Fable: Heroes and The Journey weren't. This was going to be the third bad game in the series.

Except the game is fun.

 

[Samurai G0SU]

WHAT

WHAT

WHAT

Where ... when .. huh? What?!

I just got an update saying things had been added to the Fable Legends beta.

This is truly far, far out of left field.

Hope those affected can find work.

Yeah i got an email couple days ago about dailies being added lol... T_T

 

[Compsiox]

Sucks to see the studio close and people losing jobs. But I'm glad Microsoft had the balls to stop a bad game in its tracks. It was most likely doomed to failure and all of this would have happened anyway.

 

[Schryver]

holy hell. never saw that one coming