Support NeoGAF

[Guymelef]

Just like they had nothing to fear from the Wii...

And they sold 80M PS3 with a scary Wii.

 

[Haruko]

All this doom and gloom about Rare...

I'm really looking forward to Sea of Thieves.

I've been playing a pirate themed Pathfinder d20 campaign, and the idea of basically having a MMO of that makes me super excited.

Rare better be OK

 

[Hockeymac18]

Sad news. Hope employees land on their feet elsewhere.

 

[Jobbs]

Sympathy to the people who lost their jobs, but speaking for myself after all these years I've come to associate Lionhead with two things: lies and mediocrity. That has to be a problem.

 

[Alebrije]

Nintendo wont have decent 3rd party support.

Time traveler here....

N knows that without 3rd p support NX won't go anywhere.

This game was a big one for the Xbone, Flabe was not the best series but has fans and a place in Microsoft's consoles. Xbone losing key games is bad, IF Nintendo do the things right they can get users from people looking for a solid console.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Man I just can't fathom why they did this :-/

 

[Synth]

Wow, didn't see that coming. I've been playing Fable Legends for a few months now, and the game's basically felt complete. Hell, if it weren't for the tell tale beta signs (NDA warning, gamertag overlaid on top of graphics) I'd have likely forgotten I was playing a beta at all.

I see it as a talented team finally freed from the clutches of the suits.

Yea... because with the loss of the studio name, the IPs attached to it and whatever financial backing they had for development and especially marketing (feature constantly as part of "the greatest lineup" at shows like E3), I'm sure they're all glad that the studio was shut down, rather than them obtaining said freedom by simply leaving on their own terms in order to be "free" again.

 

[AncientDiety]

Time traveler here....

N knows that without 3rd p support NX won't go anywhere.

Don't need to be a time traveller, nintendo has not had good third party support since gamecube. A new system is not going to drastically change that, nor will it mean sony loses third party support. They have known this since N64..nothing has changed.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Just like they had nothing to fear from the Wii...

the Wii did nothing to take away from the Xbox360 or PS3's market.

 

[SteveWD40]

I know it's a different team now, but seeing Lionhead close saddens me, nostalgia for the Bullfrog heyday of the late 90's.

Good luck to those losing jobs in this.

 

[SumptuousLemur]

I am in the closed beta which just had an update last week, kinda weird timing.

Me thinks they had no idea.

 

[JumPeRJumPzZ]

Preditcted this months ago... but its very sad
Is the Fable IP owned by MS?

 

[Northeastmonk]

An end to an era, maybe people in 20 years will Kickstart a new Fable.

 

[Portugeezer]

RIP Lionhead

 

[Ghost Slayer]

Time traveler here....

N knows that without 3rd p support NX won't go anywhere.

They knew that with WiiU too but...

 

[Azerth]

Preditcted this months ago... but its very sad
Is the Fable IP owned by MS?

seeing as how ms owned lionhead im pretty sure ms owns all of lionheads ips

 

[RexNovis]

So this means that one of the games they heavily advertised as part of their best lineup ever will now never see the light of day now? That just seems so wrong on so many levels.

 

[x24hrs2livex]

The battle for the living room was over a long time ago. If anything has taken over the living room, it's mobile stuff like tablets & media streaming boxes.

Its over? Really? Who owns the living room?

 

[Sumio Mondo]

Are there any British developers left?

Rocksteady. Creative Assembly. Rockstar North. Rare. Sumo Digital. So a few. Not much though as there used to be. It's sad.

 

[Spiritwalker]

That's a shame, Fable 2 was great.

 

[Ghost Slayer]

Its over? Really? Who owns the living room?

Streaming services?

 

[BlazingDarkness]

That's a weird statement. No one asked for Minecraft before it came out. No asked for a Smash Bros before it came out. No one asked for an open world assassin game set in the crusades before it came out. Not saying SoT is going to be the next big IP or anything, but people not asking for something is not the be all end all barometer on whether or not something is going to be successful. Sometimes they don't know they want it until it's presented to them.

Right, and do you really think MS operate with that kind of logic? They are far from the sort to take risks and gamble on projects that may or may not be a success. It is right there in the OP, they are closing these two studios to focus on IP that people want (reads: what makes us money), this is why MS are prepared to spend billions or whatever on Minecraft instead of expanding and creating new IP.

I may get criticised for my comments, but these days (in the gaming world) Microsoft are not trend setters, they follow the money and capitalise on it.

 

[Raide]

Damn, Fable Legends was actually pretty cool. What I played anyway. Shame to see it die. Hoping MS pick it up and it gets passed onto another developer. Would be a shame for it to die.

 

[harSon]

Which makes it a great strategy for Microsoft. They can tap the talents of studios like Remedy, Iron Galaxy, Insomniac and Platinum without the cost of running those studios. It's a win win.

I used to think it was a great strategy. But large independent studios are increasingly becoming more and more rare as development costs for AAA titles skyrocket. They're all seemingly snatched up by 3rd party publishers and platform holders, and considering it's already slim pickings for Microsoft - that sector of the market undergoing another acquisition or two is going to make that game plan no longer viable.

 

[00ich]

Its over? Really? Who owns the living room?

mobile phones. You don't need anything else, it is just more convenient.
Your Smart TV, your tablet, your Internet PC, your handhelds even console/PC gaming.

Spoiler

I know people here don't agree with the gaming part...

 

[DeepEnigma]

Its over? Really? Who owns the living room?

Cable companies still, Smart TV's and those $15 USB drives.

 

[prwxv3]

Time traveler here....

N knows that without 3rd p support NX won't go anywhere.

Just because Nintendo wants it does not mean they can get it.

 

[SparkTR]

Its over? Really? Who owns the living room?

I'd say it's not 'over', but so marginalised these days compared to how it was in 2003 that Microsoft does not give much of a shit about it anymore.

 

[FunkyPajamas]

Hopefully all former employees land on their feet, and the talented devs and artists find good jobs in other companies.

It's always sad to read about dev companies closing.

 

[RE_Player]

I fucking knew it! They went radio silent so the game was in trouble and I thought it was cancelled.

That being said I didn't think they would shut down Lionhead Studios altogether. Since Fable 2 they haven't really made a good game in my opinion but I thought they would at least get a chance to prove themselves on Xbox One.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

Preditcted this months ago... but its very sad
Is the Fable IP owned by MS?

Yes.

An end to an era, maybe people in 20 years will Kickstart a new Fable.

With Microsoft permission

 

[TheSeks]

Its over? Really? Who owns the living room?

I think his point is more "this is such a minor thing now a days that Microsoft doesn't give a shit" which is correct.

 

[mejin]

So this means that one of the games they heavily advertised as part of their best lineup ever will now never see the light of day now? That just seems so wrong on so many levels.

They will just update with no mention of Fable Legends. lol

 

[SamVT]

Shit. This is a sad day.

 

[Kayant]

Thoughts to those affected and wish them the best finding new roles.

I guess MS is looking to only own studios that produces their big IPs and everything else outside hololens will be a first party production via a third party studio.

 

[oti]

Kinect dead.
Phantom Dust dead. (Was it ever alive tho?)
Xbox Entertainment Division dead. (admittedly not really about gaming but still)
Fable dead.
Rare... dunno.

This Gen has been a pretty wild ride already for Xbox. There are some great positives of course like Scalebound and Quantum Break, I just hope they REALLY pay off and deliver.

 

[Shang]

Press Play were the Max and the curse of brotherhood people, right? Gah, that sucks

 

[Auto-Reply]

Its over? Really? Who owns the living room?

Service based portals not dependand on hardware, basically what Microsoft is trying to turn the xbox brand into with their Windows 10 initiative.

 

[Steverulez]

I think Rare Replay probably saved Rare from the cutting room. If you look at what Lionhead has put out vs what Rare has put out...even though Rare kinect games were not popular in places like Neogaf, I believe they actually sold pretty well, then Rare Replay did really well vs Lionhead who really after Fable 2 has not done well in the sales side.

Im pretty sure Fable 3 did really well.

I have no idea how Fable Heroes and Anniversary did but I suspect the issue was Fable The Journey -> Fable Legends (delay, lack of faith in the title) -> new IP/projects not looking like something MS wanted to continue to invest in.

 

[kurahador]

An end to an era, maybe people in 20 years will Kickstart a new Fable.

I think you mean new The Movies, or its spiritual successor.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

I fucking knew it! They went radio silent so the game was in trouble and I thought it was cancelled.

That being said I didn't think they would shut down Lionhead Studios altogether. Since Fable 2 they haven't really made a good game in my opinion but I thought they would at least get a chance to prove themselves on Xbox One.

Saying that they shouldn't is hard judgement. We don't know know any of the financial implications on what is costing to the run the entire studio (rent, bills, etc). Obviously there are factors that we don't know about and probably never will.

 

[leeh]

This is sad

I feel like AAA gaming is going to be merely dominated by very few large corporations soon. Makes sense considering the risk/return.

 

[gamz]

So this means that one of the games they heavily advertised as part of their best lineup ever will now never see the light of day now? That just seems so wrong on so many levels.

The game didn't pan out. Not sure why it's wrong on many levels?

 

[Nudull]

Damn, you'd think Microsoft would keep them alive.

RIP. The Movies and Black & White will forever live in my heart.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I used to think it was a great strategy. But large independent studios are increasingly becoming more and more rare as development costs for AAA titles skyrocket. They're all seemingly snatched up by 3rd party publishers and platform holders, and considering it's already slim pickings for Microsoft - that sector of the market undergoing another acquisition or two is going to make that game plan no longer viable.

Complicated further by what I have to believe are lessons that reality has taught Microsoft as it relates to their meddling in and application of their management style on these games studios. At this point I'm sure they know that their way doesn't work for game studios but I'm not sure if they know another way to do things.

 

[sense]

"Here's your termination papers. We wish you well in your future endeavours. You have fifteen minutes to clean out your desk before security escorts you out of the office."


*insert wacky fart noise*

i am sorry for all the people that lost their jobs and hope they land safely but this was funny

 

[DeepEnigma]

This is sad

I feel like AAA gaming is going to be merely dominated by very few large corporations soon. Makes sense considering the risk/return.

MSFT is not a large corporation?

 

[Alebrije]

They knew that with WiiU too but...

Their hardware bombed. 3rd party were willing to work but once the Pad and dated hardware were risky they stopped the support.

 

[Gamezone]

Going for a F2P Fable game was always a bad idea. This isn't what the fans wanted.

 

[Iva Demilcol]

Fable has been considered shit for a long time and molyneux is a joke, so this isn't all that surprising. Condolences to those who are newly unemployed, I hope they find work soon. Molyneux should just retire.

Molyneux has not been part of Lionhead since a while ago, though.