AncientDiety
Banned
A company as big as MS what are the chances the corporate culture really changes that fast? Maybe your right but I think it's a stretch.
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Lionhead Studios and Press Play closed. Fable legends cancelled.
- Thread starter chadskin
- Start date
A company as big as MS what are the chances the corporate culture really changes that fast? Maybe your right but I think it's a stretch.
Stone Ocean
Member
The beta will continue for a month still? What the fuck
It was probably way over budget and didn't want to sink in any more money in it. They were probably never going to make back the money so the plug was pulled.
GrimmGrinn
Member
Say what you will about Fable, but I absolutely adores Fable 2.
Thanks for the game Lionhead
Thanks for the game Lionhead
Eh, "just release a high quality AAA game" is easier said than done though. That's advice along the lines of "score more points than the other team and you'll win!". Games like these are huge projects where tons of stuff can and will go wrong.
It sucks for the people getting fired, but the writing was really on the wall for quite some time.
That said, I'lI admit I expected Legends to still come out. (but probably bomb)
The only way this makes sense in my eyes if somebody above Phil Spencer is pulling on the brakes on Xbox.
Why would they otherwise cancel the game so close to completion?
Phil spent all his time trying to get back the goodwill of gamers and this is a counter-productive move that does not make any sense.
Why would they otherwise cancel the game so close to completion?
Phil spent all his time trying to get back the goodwill of gamers and this is a counter-productive move that does not make any sense.
Jesus. Without any notice?
Dimitri LH
Member
Wow, was looking forward to this one.
EventHorizon
Member
Just a total guess on my part but I'd say the problem was Microsoft management interfering too much. Pretty sure they force Lionhead to promote Kinect which spawned Fable: The Journey and then forced Lionhead to promote multiplayer which led to Fable Legends.
To support my theory about multiplayer, Microsoft turned down Rime because it didn't have it.
Neuromancer
Member
MS only owned Press Play for 4 years. Is that a record for them between studio acquisition and shut down?
cartographer
Member
It's a computer-only simulation game released in the mid '00s. People who played it will remember it fondly but it likely didn't have a very big audience when it was released due to platform, era and genre.
gaming_noob
Member
Legends was going to bomb hard. I can understand cancelling that project. They could have at least allowed LH to try a new franchise...
Would it have made much money, though? That's the question.
darkinstinct
...lacks reading comprehension.
I always wondered why Lionhead was doing a F2P tactical Fable instead of a fully new game in the franchise. Did they come up with the idea? It sounded stupid from the beginning. I hope Rare won't be the next victim but I don't think Sea of Thieves has the potential to sell a lot.
Something internal must've changed at Rare if they're being so public with a lot of what they do. I mean they only recently released actual footage of Project Dream -- something that people have been scavenging for years now.
Four years ago you'd only hear from Rare with one off E3/Gamescom appearances. Now they're very active in everything g they do now.
Wow, so this game was far along......but Microsoft scrapped the game and shut down the studio working on it?
That is really harsh. I wasn't planing on playing this but people were looking forward to this game and now that its scrapped, they can't play it at all now.
Feel bad for the Lionhead and Press Play staff; home they find work soon. It has to be horrible losing your job out of nowhere.
I wonder what this means for the Fable series, as they really didn't know what to do with it post Fable 3; Kinect spinoff game, some XBLA co-op adventure and this being a F2P AAA project. Its their Zelda in many respects (the adventure/RPG game), so I wonder if they are going to re-work the series into something else or outright scrap it.
Sad day for Xbox fans and even worse for the talented developers now looking for work. Hope they get on their feet soon and that they move on to making more projects in the future.
That is really harsh
. I wasn't planing on playing this but people were looking forward to this game and now that its scrapped, they can't play it at all now. Feel bad for the Lionhead and Press Play staff; home they find work soon. It has to be horrible losing your job out of nowhere
.I wonder what this means for the Fable series, as they really didn't know what to do with it post Fable 3; Kinect spinoff game, some XBLA co-op adventure and this being a F2P AAA project. Its their Zelda in many respects (the adventure/RPG game), so I wonder if they are going to re-work the series into something else or outright scrap it.
Sad day for Xbox fans and even worse for the talented developers now looking for work. Hope they get on their feet soon and that they move on to making more projects in the future.
That's true, though even then that IP it is sort of based on the Forza franchise. It would be nice if they could give the kind of funding and attention studios like Turn 10, 343i etc enjoy, but towards brand new mega IP's instead. I think their current strategy, which seems to be outsourcing that task to third party studios instead, is a misplaced one that won't benefit them or the Xbox brand in the long run.
Whens the last time you even play it? PC version is the great.
brokenbeans
Banned
Very surprised and saddened, was looking forward to trying Legends.
AncientDiety
Banned
The issue is why did they go in the direction they did for fable anyway?
That decimates their output. It is basically 343, Rare, Turn 10 and The Coalition now. BigPark, Good Science Studio, Launchworks, Lift London still seem to be open, but haven't released a game in ages according to their Wikpedia pages. It makes it kinda hard to count them. BigPark doesn't even have a website anymore.
CecilRousso
Member
Not sure he was actually that much directly involved in any of their games after Fable 2, so your anger feels a bit misdirected.
Ninja Sharingan
Banned
Because the product wasn't that good? If the feedback was really bad it could be extremely damaging
Garrett Hawke
Member
What a massive shame. Hope those involved can find new jobs. Really sad.
lighthouse777
Member
I was in the beta and did not like it at all
What does this even mean?
Just getting rid of Employee ranking system which was truly fucking awful I'm sure helped a ton.
Hibiki Kurosawa
Member
Nope, part of the bolded in OP as well.
AncientDiety
Banned
YEah but who decided to turn fable into a MMO coop game? It was doomed from the get go.
diesturbia
Member
What? Ugh what a great way to start a Monday...=/
I wish good luck to the former employees who lost thier jobs
I wish good luck to the former employees who lost thier jobs
johancruijff
Banned
wow out of fucking nowhere
They also have Decisive Games (?) making a strategy game.
Shit that's pretty eye opening about how Microsoft approach choosing their investments, looking for boxes to tick on a feature list instead of just fun and interesting games.
Devilgunman
Member
I won't be surprised if MS close down Rare and just keep their IPs. Killer Instinct is superb but it's made by Double Helix then handed over to Dave Lang.
Laevateinn
Member
This sucks. I haven't bought anything from Lionhead in a while since I don't use Windows or own any Xboxes but I've always liked them. Fable seemed cool and I loved Black and White. Here's to hoping everyone ends up in a good place after this and are able to remain creative.
Obliterator
Member
They had already made 3 huge AAA Fables before. And yes they had issues in development but they still shipped them. The talent and ability were already within the studio, so no the point stands and the demand from consumers would have been there.
Lionhead is only dead right now because of Fable Kinect and Fable Legends happened instead of Fable 4. Terrible management of the studio and the IP.
Heartbreaking we'll never get to explore Albion again
Calibos
Member
So, for Lionhead, is this a direct result of having a long term Beta/unfinished project eating up dollars and not really generating enough buzz or positive word of mouth to sustain a full release schedule?
I was somewhat excited for it as there hasn't been any great Fable game since 2. Also, it really stings to lose a very talented and quirky development studio for MS...Hopefully all of these developers land on their feet.
I was somewhat excited for it as there hasn't been any great Fable game since 2. Also, it really stings to lose a very talented and quirky development studio for MS...Hopefully all of these developers land on their feet.
BruceLeeRoy
Banned
Terrible news but not surprising.
Wow, that blows. Microsoft suits are fools. They really don't see creativity and fun being good enough. Has to work with some agenda that likely is there to empty our wallets consistently and keep you online. Sony and MS are night and day in that regard.
Complicated
Banned
Sad to hear of anything like this. It's almost been eight years since Lionhead put out something that garnered any sort of acclaim though. I always thought Legends was supposed to be a quick release to test out the new Xbox hardware for Fable 4, but things obviously got out of control there.
RedSparrows
Member
It doesn't when you consider their 3rd party-exclusive stuff.
Whether that's sensible or not is another discussion, but this isn't the whole story.
1st Course
Member
For some reason I feel that Rare MMO will be canceled too.