Mechanized
Member
This seems like a pretty big blow to MS.
-
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
It's less that the Fable game doesn't fit with what Microsoft wants, and it's more that Lionhead doesn't fit. If it was just the game, Microsoft wouldn't have canned the whole studio.
AncientDiety
Banned
This......They are not mutually exclusive.
InsaneTiger
Member
Studios close, I get it. All the big publishers have done it, including Sony.
Doesn't make it any less bullshit.
Doesn't make it any less bullshit.
Obliterator
Member
Its not console wars. I'm analyzing the state of the industry and how it will effect software and how MS is structuring their 1st party based on that.
Sales talk is my number 1 priority on this Forum and what likely over 70% of what my posts are about
Orniletter
Banned
Honestly, Fable was always a pretty bad series.
That may just be me, but I never quite figured out, what the developers were really going for.
They felt like shallow action adventures with some light RPG elements, that tried their hands at a bit of Zelda too.
Weird games. 2 was decent almost a decade ago .
That may just be me, but I never quite figured out, what the developers were really going for.
They felt like shallow action adventures with some light RPG elements, that tried their hands at a bit of Zelda too.
Weird games. 2 was decent almost a decade ago .
Dreams-Visions
Member
And the sad part is I'm pretty sure every MS game I listed scored FAR better in reviews than KillZone OR Knack ever did or ever could have...and yet somehow where Sony's IPs get multiple chances, MS 8.0-9.5 scoring games were deemed unworthy for a sequel. Those MS games weren't just liked; they were LOVED. If Sony owned those IPs they'd be 3 or 4 versions in by now. It's really just sort of depressing, what could have been.
More players in the gaming market is better for Dev, no?
exmachina64
Banned
azertydu91
Hard to Kill
It was about the cancelled ssm project and its comparison to the cancellation of Fable.
There's a lot of difference between a game soon to be annonced and soon to be released, in fact nobody had a release date for that project.
Wind's Howling
Member
R.I.P. Lionhead.
I sure loved Fable The Lost Chapters and Fable 2.
I sure loved Fable The Lost Chapters and Fable 2.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Not necessarily. Not all devs want to make multiple SKU's, when most do not see a return on one or two.
Primethius
Banned
MS was never good at managing their IPs.
RIP all my favorite IPs on the OG Xbox not named Halo.
RIP all my favorite IPs on the OG Xbox not named Halo.
The thing you seem to forgot is that the core of Sony's first party studios haven't release their games yet. Santa Monica, ND,,,,
You're proving his point
And if they exit the business wouldn't you have far more out of work dev?
Matrix XII
Member
Sad news.
*Salute*
You were a good studio Lionhead. Thanks for all your hard work over the years!
*Salute*
You were a good studio Lionhead. Thanks for all your hard work over the years!
I was going to write this long post on everything good and bad about the game but fuck it there's no point.
I think funding was an issue with FL it was really good but I don't think they had the money to complete the project
If you have any questions I'll answer them though.
Fable sold about 3million on OG Xbox
Fable 2 sold 3.5 at the last recorded date (2010)
Fable 3 sold more than Fable 2
That's a succesful exclusive game franchise
Doug Heffernan
Member
I wouldn't say they're choosing one over the other. More like relegating riskier ventures to third party and fostering less risky ventures in house.
Do you see any scenario in which Rare's f2p game fits in with Microsoft when all this other stuff didn't?
AncientDiety
Banned
No he isn't, Uc4 is going to be very big. That's the opposite of unappealing. Non of sony's bigger studios have launched yet.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
If you ignored the BS hype from Molyneux the Fable series were decent action RPG with some witty British humor. The side games like Heroes and The Journey were horrible.
Shpeshal Nick
aka Collingwood
You both seem to be confused.
People in here are talking about 3rd party studios making 1st party games. Games that are IP owned by Microsoft. You two seem to be referring to 3rd party money hat deals like Street Fighter V and Tomb Raider. Microsoft won't be doing anymore of those, or at least that's the indication they give.
They'll keep a handful of internal studios for their tent pole franchises (of which there are now only 3 or 4 if you count Motorsport and Horizon as separate games) and then contract out their new IPs and smaller franchises like ReCore, Scalebound, Quantum Break, Killer Insitinct and most likely Battletoads.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
They can have a second team make something off contract. I think Insomniac has a Ratchet & Clank in development for Sony right now.
Prisoner KSC2-303
Member
Harsh. I really enjoyed Fable (even 3), but it should've been clear much earlier that Legends was a game that missed what most fans wanted, and crucially also didn't have enough appeal to non-fans; it was an odd decision to greenlight that game.
It's hard to know which IPs will continue to hold enough appeal to be profitable, so perhaps it's just becoming more economically sound to purchase exclusivity rather than soak up the expenses amid the pitfalls of trying to forecast what'll remain relevant from the in-house licences.
It's sad, but I have more faith in MS (and others) picking up decent looking franchises than steering studios under them to make their own from what should be already strong IP. Fable should've been viable as a continuing series, and I don't buy that Wipeout was of no interest to gamers beyond the PS1 era either.
It's hard to know which IPs will continue to hold enough appeal to be profitable, so perhaps it's just becoming more economically sound to purchase exclusivity rather than soak up the expenses amid the pitfalls of trying to forecast what'll remain relevant from the in-house licences.
It's sad, but I have more faith in MS (and others) picking up decent looking franchises than steering studios under them to make their own from what should be already strong IP. Fable should've been viable as a continuing series, and I don't buy that Wipeout was of no interest to gamers beyond the PS1 era either.
Steverulez
Member
Sea of Thieves isnt confirmed to be F2P. I know they had job listings about alternate business models, but if they are trying to make a Destiny-like with pirates I dont think its a guarantee they go F2P
If it attracts a lot of MAU's then I suspect they'd keep it around.
EDIT: Steverulez is right, the financial model has not been announced.
Killer Instinct is working, though.
Sea of Thieves is F2P?
Stone Ocean
Member
Didn't Kinect Sports Rivals do badly? Sea of Thieves is probably their last shot
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
Microsoft takes the Capcom route. That too could be interesting. I asked earlier if Fable could be rebooted by another studio. I guess it could happen just like Ninja Theory rebooting DMC.
Hey now, that's entirely unfa__....
Wow, come to think of it - that's actually pretty spot-on. D@mn....
Shpeshal Nick
aka Collingwood
Seems fine for Killer Instinct.
Ninja Sharingan
Banned
Oh man thanks for confirming sequels to tearaway. The order 1886, until dawn. Beyond two souls, folklore.
Knack is getting a sequel shearly down to who made it and what it sold off bundles. I do see potential in Knack 2 tho lol
Seriously tho, you make some hits and you make some flops. No one can wave a magic wand and guarantee a good game. Did rare want to make another perfect dark? Who knows. I feel like it's being painted that Sony is the white knight if game development and ms is some failure fumbling and only relying on sequels yet the biggest hyped games for the ps4 since launch was the third infamous game and the fourth uncharted. What a strange world we live in
Ps I don't even know how we got here lol
Stone Ocean
Member
It could happen but considering the types of Fable games that have been happening lately do you see MS ever touching the IP again?
Yep...they should have always been independent...looks like spencer is reversing microsoft's studio buy up
Has Sea of Thieves even been /confirmed/ to be free-to-play?
Except the studio would've died much earlier on had Microsoft not purchased them. Hasn't this been stated before?
GHG
Member
Those games are only niche because they allow them to be niche. They haven't built on the franchises like they should have. Perfect Dark is what I'd describe as a high potential franchise, but they allowed it to flounder despite it being a good fit for the current era and the Xbox audience in general. If they had built on those franchises they would have added breadth an depth to what s currently a very narrow first party lineup. No, none of those individual titles is going to sell like halo, but not every game needs to sell like Halo. It should be about attempting to curate a first party lineup that has something for everyone. Historically Sony has done this very well and have proven that people will buy consoles because of a diverse lineup that includes multiple "niche" titles.
Oh and for what it's worth, kid friendly games sell very very well if marketed correctly. You couldn't be more wrong there.
Does it? I'd love a link.
Their in house development is anaemic compared with Sony and Nintendo
Shpeshal Nick
aka Collingwood
A link? To what? So you think Microsoft would continue to support a free to play game in a niche genre for 3 seasons if it wasn't at least mildly successful? Give me a break.
I'm pretty sure it has.