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Lionhead Studios and Press Play closed. Fable legends cancelled.

S

Synth

Member
GankzyMcfly said:
Although i agree with you for the most part, couldn't have Phil just not responded to the tweet instead of giving gamer's something to point to in the event that the X1 is abandoned. Im sure the guy gets like 1000 tweets a second...why bring attention to this post if the plan is to ultimately abandon the x1 in the future?
Click to expand...

Playing the role of Phil for a second... the first thought I'd imagine ignoring this particular tweet leading to is...

"The silence is deafening".
 
S

SneakersSO

Member
GankzyMcfly said:
Although i agree with you for the most part, couldn't have Phil just not responded to the tweet instead of giving gamer's something to point to in the event that the X1 is abandoned. Im sure the guy gets like 1000 tweets a second...why bring attention to this post if the plan is to ultimately abandon the x1 in the future?
Click to expand...

Let's say X1 does get 'abandoned' - who the hell is going to hold Phil Spencer accountable for that tweet? He's not a politician. He's the head of a company division that is currently undergoing major re-calibration. Heck, much like Lionhead & Press Play, the X1 could be 'critical' to MS' W10 efforts today and no longer be tomorrow. Last week, Spencer would've said those two studios were key studios in the MS 1st party portfolio, but that evidently changed on Monday. He's the public mouth piece of a business division, not running for office.
 
H

Helznicht

Member
SneakersSO said:
Last week, Spencer would've said those two studios were key studios in the MS 1st party portfolio, but that evidently changed on Monday.
Click to expand...

Doubtful, Fable has been missing from that last several sizzle reels MS has released, and it was commented by many on this board.

I agree with your sentiment though, no one will hold him accountable if MS decides to change direction in the future.
 
T

The Lamp

Member
benedictm said:
Well yes. I just tweeted a link to the list of his comments to Phil Spencer. He tweeted me back:

nTXWFtc.png


Anyone got Caprinha's email so he can reach out to him
Click to expand...

Why do people ever think they're going to get an honest answer by directly confronting? They're only going to tell you what their PR has decided is appropriate for the public to know.

Edit: nvm saw your response now.
 
S

SneakersSO

Member
On another note - I just don't see the business sense in shutting down Lionhead. Fine, you have zero confidence in Fable Legends, cancel it. However, you have a team of over 100 people who are all intimately well versed & have created tech for UE4. And your current portfolio features two key games coming out within the next year (Gears 4 & Scalebound) that are both being built on UE4. I know its not an ideal situation for the fans of Lionhead, but why not have the team start building additional content for those games & act as a UE4 support studio, while a small pre-production team does R&D on a potential new project? This way, they are enriching current software you do feel confident in by building them some DLC (extra MP maps or skins for Gears, provide UE4 support for platinum, since Lionhead has put a game out on X1 in beta form), while allowing them a chance to maybe come up with a solid pitch that they do want to pursue.
 
V

vcc

Member
SneakersSO said:
On another note - I just don't see the business sense in shutting down Lionhead. Fine, you have zero confidence in Fable Legends, cancel it. However, you have a team of over 100 people who are all intimately well versed & have created tech for UE4. And your current portfolio features two key games coming out within the next year (Gears 4 & Scalebound) that are both being built on UE4. I know its not an ideal situation for the fans of Lionhead, but why not have the team start building additional content for those games & act as a UE4 support studio, while a small pre-production team does R&D on a potential new project? This way, they are enriching current software you do feel confident in by building them some DLC (extra MP maps or skins for Gears, provide UE4 support for platinum, since Lionhead has put a game out on X1 in beta form), while allowing them a chance to maybe come up with a solid pitch that they do want to pursue.
Click to expand...

It would make more sense if they're winding down their investment in the gaming busines.
 
T

Tatsumi Oga

Banned
Moertel said:
Maybe a mod can open a new thread:

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/fable-legends-may-live-on/0165153

Fable Legend might continue development under a new, independent studio composed of former Lionhead staffers
Click to expand...

Is that even possible? Isn't Fable Legends Microsoft's?

I rather have them shelving Legends completely and just bring us a singleplayer RPG. It looked fantastic, the characters and humor was there and i loved the atmosphere. But the quests were rather boring and soon it became way too repetitive. I rather have a proper SP RPG.
 
Audioboxer

Audioboxer

Member
Tatsumi Oga said:
Is that even possible? Isn't Fable Legends Microsoft's?

I rather have them shelving Legends completely and just bring us a singleplayer RPG. It looked fantastic, the characters and humor was there and i loved the atmosphere. But the quests were rather boring and soon it became way too repetitive. I rather have a proper SP RPG.
Click to expand...

I guess it depends on how contractual things ended with the studio closure.
 
M

Moertel

Member
Tatsumi Oga said:
I rather have them shelving Legends completely and just bring us a singleplayer RPG. It looked fantastic, the characters and humor was there and i loved the atmosphere. But the quests were rather boring and soon it became way too repetitive. I rather have a proper SP RPG.
Click to expand...
Entirely agree. I don't care much about Legends (quit the beta after an hour), but I do care about the franchise and the people behind it. Bring back the Carters, make Fable 4 without any shenanigans and I'm happy.
 
S

Steverulez

Member
Moertel said:
Maybe a mod can open a new thread:

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/fable-legends-may-live-on/0165153

Fable Legends might continue development under a new, independent studio composed of former Lionhead staffers
Click to expand...

This just seems ridiculous to me. Why would you spin off the studio if you were willing to cancel an almost complete game?

I get the whole "external partners" thing, but Phil said a few years back the cost between internal and external development costs aren't that different after you consider royalties etc... so what exactly is the plan here?

If they had such little faith in Fable Legends, they should have put Lionhead on a new IP and let them get on with it. Fable has been run into the ground. I find it hard to believe that all their new IP ideas are so shit they aren't interested in any of them or they wouldn't add anything to their line-up. A new RPG, an adventure game, hell an action game, i've no doubt once these guys are unshackled from Fable (and MS) they will make something good
 
B

Blueblur1

Member
Probably helps avoid legal issues and they can do things like sell the studio space and moving the smaller team to a smaller space to cut costs.
 
T

Trup1aya

Member
Tatsumi Oga said:
Is that even possible? Isn't Fable Legends Microsoft's?

I rather have them shelving Legends completely and just bring us a singleplayer RPG. It looked fantastic, the characters and humor was there and i loved the atmosphere. But the quests were rather boring and soon it became way too repetitive. I rather have a proper SP RPG.
Click to expand...

Sure, MS owns the IP... But there's no reason they couldn't have an independent studio handle development... Just like with KI and Crackdown. Going forward, I bet this is how MS will handle most of their IPs.
 
D

Danny 117

Member
Trup1aya said:
Sure, MS owns the IP... But there's no reason they couldn't have an independent studio handle development... Just like with KI and Crackdown. Going forward, I bet this is how MS will handle most of their IPs.
Click to expand...

And Creative Assembly are doing Halo Wars 2. Makes sense!
 
P

Pound_lb003

Member
Steverulez said:
This just seems ridiculous to me. Why would you spin off the studio if you were willing to cancel an almost complete game?

I get the whole "external partners" thing, but Phil said a few years back the cost between internal and external development costs aren't that different after you consider royalties etc... so what exactly is the plan here?

If they had such little faith in Fable Legends, they should have put Lionhead on a new IP and let them get on with it. Fable has been run into the ground. I find it hard to believe that all their new IP ideas are so shit they aren't interested in any of them or they wouldn't add anything to their line-up. A new RPG, an adventure game, hell an action game, i've no doubt once these guys are unshackled from Fable (and MS) they will make something good
Click to expand...

Difference between external partners and internal dev if they add up the same eventually, can only be risk.

Easier to pay with royalties once the product is earning money, than the fund the difficult parts of coming up with a project.
 
N

nOoblet16

Member
I have a friend who worked there and he was surprised when he went to work and found an email in the morning with the unexoected decision that MS decided to shut down the studio when they could have released the game in a month or so.
 
E

Ethan Olivia

Banned
As much as people criticise Molyneux, it was clear that his departure had a very negative effect on Lionhead. The man, at the very least, had ambition. I do not know why Microsoft decided against reinvesting in Lionhead and giving them a proper development cycle for Fable 4. People loved the Fable series, and it always had the potential to succeed. It's a blow for Microsoft's first party, at the very least, removing diversity from a lineup already lacking diversity.
 
C

chadskin

Member
Hi everyone,

Now that the Fable Legends servers have come down, we wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for the incredible dedication and support you’ve shown Fable Legends over the past few years.

With your help, we’ve built one of the nicest, most passionate communities any of us have had the honour of working with. We speak on behalf of everyone at the Studio when we say your contributions to both the community and the game have been truly appreciated; we simply couldn’t have come this far without your help.

Though Fable Legends hasn’t made it into everyone’s hands, we hope those who did have the chance to play it enjoyed it as much as we did. This was, it’s safe to say, one of the most ambitious and challenging projects many of the staff here have ever worked on and we’re incredibly proud of what we achieved. The awesome memories and friendships forged will live on.

Once again, heart-felt thanks go out to all of you – you’re the best.

<3 from Hohbes, TheAlbionGirl, Squiyre, Little Spoons, Crow and everyone here at Lionhead.
Click to expand...
http://forum.lionhead.com/yaf_postsm138898_And-so-our-story-ends.aspx#post138898
 
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