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Lionhead Studios and Press Play closed. Fable legends cancelled.

Mobile Suit Gooch

Mobile Suit Gooch

Grundle: The Awakening
Amir0x said:
They're making incremental hardware upgrades now, ala PC? I thought that was the strategy they were going to attempt?

Similarly, this issue is a symptom of a larger one. This is not the only news that indicates Microsoft is seriously changing direction. They may try temporarily to keep the band-aid by attempting an incremental upgrade XBO or something, but it's going to end up the same way.
Click to expand...

It feels like it'll just be PlayStation and Nintendo soon.

Nothing to do with what you've said, but still.
 
G

gogosox82

Member
Wow. Lionhead is closed? Damn that sucks. Hope everyone lands on their feet. I wasn't really that excited about Fable Legends but I probably would have been down for Fable 4. Why didn't they just make another Fable game instead of FL?
 
S

Sesto

Banned
this is sad. I always was jealous for the Fables on the xbox (- the Kinect one) and thought this was a big opportunity for Microsoft if they want to expand the Xbox one userbase, given the fact that WRPG are bigger then ever (Skyrim, Witcher, Fallout).
 
C

Cow Goes Moo

Member
kruis

kruis

Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
The closing of Lionhead is a typical case of MS mismanagement. First force a studio to produce nothing else but Fable games, then force them to make a Kinect game (failure), then force them to make a F2P (neverending beta) and then close the studio.

If MS was willing to kill Lionhead, a studio that produced two bonafide hits before being forced to create Kinect/F2P games, the writing is on the wall for Rare to be honest. That studio produces a string of commercial and critical failures after which they were forced to create games they didn't want to make: three Kinect games, avatars and now a F2P game that's MIA since the E3 reveal. I bet the Rare devs won't sleep very soundly tonight after hearing today's news about Lionhead and Press Play.
 
O

Occam

Member
harSon said:
Considering the lack of acknowledgement from people like Phil Spencer, Major Nelson, etc - and the fact that this seemed to happen abruptly and without notice, I'm wondering if this was mandated from above. Curious to see if there's any type of an exodus if that's the case, and individuals were off-put by its handling.
Click to expand...

"I believe in Phil Spencer (who also totally wasn't in the room when they came up with the original pre-180 Xbone Property Removal System™)"
 
Frozone

Frozone

Member
I'm very sorry for those that will lose their jobs.. That's never a good experience. I really wanted to play Fable Legends too..
 
S

Simply Sami

Member
Carl said:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/24/shane-kim-resident-evil-5-was-xbox-360s-big-announcement-at/
Click to expand...

I miss the days of Moore, Kim, Bach and Allard.

Hopefully Phil restores some of my trust in MS. But the Xbox one is looking like a waste of money every passing day. Most likely can play all the major exclusives on PC now and one of my favourite exclusives is dead.

Yes they can give Fable to another studio. But it won't be the same. It needs to be a British studio who develops it. Fable without the British charm and wit is nothing.
 
L

Leflus

Member
kruis said:
The closing of Lionhead is a typical case of MS mismanagement. First force a studio to produce nothing else but Fable games, then force them to make a Kinect game (failure), then force them to make a F2P (neverending beta) and then close the studio.

If MS was willing to kill Lionhead, a studio that produced two bonafide hits before being forced to create Kinect/F2P games, the writing is on the wall for Rare to be honest. That studio produces a string of commercial and critical failures after which they were forced to create games they didn't want to make: three Kinect games, avatars and now a F2P game that's MIA since the E3 reveal. I bet the Rare devs won't sleep very soundly tonight after hearing today's news about Lionhead and Press Play.
Click to expand...
Huh? Rare hasn't announced a F2P game.

Unless they've secretly revealed another game in addition to Sea of Thieves?
 
Crayon

Crayon

Member
Gooch: The Destroyer said:
It feels like it'll just be PlayStation and Nintendo soon.

Nothing to do with what you've said, but still.
Click to expand...

Maybe for a bit. But eventually some console alternative like the Nvidia Shield or Steam Machines or even an XBox-TV will be rubbing up against the traditional consoles. Even Sony's own PSNow can be competition for the Playstation if it is developed far enough.

Stuff doesn't have to be exactly in the same category to compete for the same dollars.
 
L

Lingitiz

Member
kruis said:
The closing of Lionhead is a typical case of MS mismanagement. First force a studio to produce nothing else but Fable games, then force them to make a Kinect game (failure), then force them to make a F2P (neverending beta) and then close the studio.

If MS was willing to kill Lionhead, a studio that produced two bonafide hits before being forced to create Kinect/F2P games, the writing is on the wall for Rare to be honest. That studio produces a string of commercial and critical failures after which they were forced to create games they didn't want to make: three Kinect games, avatars and now a F2P game that's MIA since the E3 reveal. I bet the Rare devs won't sleep very soundly tonight after hearing today's news about Lionhead and Press Play.
Click to expand...

From the outside it seems like after Molyneux moved away from Lionhead to head of MS Studios Europe and later out of the company altogether, they had no real leadership or idea of what to do next. MS shuffled various people to try and get new leadership in at the studio, but I guess it didn't really seem to change much.

Gooch: The Destroyer said:
It feels like it'll just be PlayStation and Nintendo soon.

Nothing to do with what you've said, but still.
Click to expand...

The traditional console market is changing significantly and I think all three companies are going to try and redefine what we know about what a console is and how the cycles normally work. MS is merging W10 and Xbox, Nintendo is merging their handheld and console businesses, and Sony has been experimenting with streaming tech and VR. I doubt whatever the next generation ends up being will be your typical hardware refresh.
 
A

Apathy

Member
ElBoxyBrown said:
Should we expect Remedy to be purchased soon?
Click to expand...

If they want to be shut down in less than a decade I guess they could be bought out. Good way for the owners to get some big bucks and then leave.

Edit: plus remedy take forever to get a game out. If MS owned them they would not allow that. The game is out the door when they say whether it is 100%done or not.
 
element

element

Member
While I agree with you I still think this was and still is one of the biggests MS mistakes.
Look what hapenned to Halo.
Bungie left and with them a lot of fans.
Same will happen with Gears.
Insomniac that made Sunset now is back with Sony.
Crytek that made Ryse is not developing anything exclusive for them.
And we got a lot of other examples.
Im not saying partnership with 2nd/3rd parties for excluisives is a bad thing, because is not.
Still tho relying most of your exclusives in the hands of those who tomorrow can be doing games for your 'rival' is not a good choice imo.
Click to expand...
Bungie bought/forced their independence. It has worked for them, but they have TONS of pressure to produce.
Halo 5 sold just fine.
Gears will do fine.
Insomniac never really left Sony. They have always had a strong relationship because of Ratchet & Clank. Considering they are working with Gamestop as a publisher, means they are looking everywhere.
Crytek was on the verge of bankruptcy, so not a great example.
 
T

ThoughtsOfSpeaking

Banned
Collingwood said:
Well if Kevin Dents recent tweet is any indication, he mentions that a studio as big as Lionhead should be selling around 7million units per game to justify their existence. So it's actually kinda surprising they've lasted this long when viewed from that perspective.
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Take anything Kevin Dent says with a pinch of salt. He is like TimDog with a press badge.

7 million copies? Really? Did any Halo bar 3 sell that much?
 
N

No Love

Banned
Wow, Microsoft swings the axe once again. Didn't think they'd kill an iconic developer though. RIP Lionhead and Fable franchise
 
I

IcyBlueStrawberry

Member
Oh wow, this is shitty news to come home to.

I thought Fable Legends was all but done. I've wanted to play the game since it was announced almost 3 years ago.

I don't understand what MS is doing with their gaming division.
 
F

Feorax

Member
I don't think MS are going anywhere in the immediate future with hardware to be honest, but I'm genuinely baffled as to what they're actually planning long-term. Failing your 1st party is a terrible way to hamstring yourself.

Seems like a massive gamble on yearly incremental upgrades and the one W10 ecosystem now absolutely has to succeed in the next couple of years. If it doesn't, then that probably will be curtains for Xbox. It's already starting to become somewhat unrecognisable.
 
R

Raist

Banned
harSon said:
Considering the lack of acknowledgement from people like Phil Spencer, Major Nelson, etc - and the fact that this seemed to happen abruptly and without notice, I'm wondering if this was mandated from above. Curious to see if there's any type of an exodus if that's the case, and individuals were off-put by its handling.
Click to expand...

Yes, the head of Xbox, formerly head of Microsoft Studios, has just been bypassed and has no idea what just happened. Obviously.
 
CassidyIzABeast

CassidyIzABeast

Member
AncientDiety said:
Being put on making games for Hololens is not exactly a ringing endorsement of MS management of their studios.
Click to expand...

Didn't say it was. Most people stopped trying to dig on what those studios were doing once it was revealed they were hololens. Most of their games people are interested in are developed by independent studios anyway. Probably the best move for them to make going forward.
 
V

VariantX

Member
Shit, this came out of left field. Was expecting this to drop soon but now, nothing? Now I never liked the moment to moment gameplay of fable, and I liked the artstyle, on paper at least, but the one thing my experience with fable that I did enjoy is the world itself enough so that I was willing to over look those things a little.
 
S

SneakersSO

Member
harSon said:
Considering the lack of acknowledgement from people like Phil Spencer, Major Nelson, etc - and the fact that this seemed to happen abruptly and without notice, I'm wondering if this was mandated from above. Curious to see if there's any type of an exodus if that's the case, and individuals were off-put by its handling.
Click to expand...

Let's put it this way - theres no way you don't have some sort of software deal with MS within the games industry today, saw this deal, and not think that anyone of them is liable for termination at a moment's notice. Especially the 3rd party contracts.

Stumkapow said it best in his post, but them shuddering both Lionhead & Press Play says more about their interest in even owning these types of software producers. Press Play was acquired relatively recently & had a new project in the works and Lionhead had another project in-development as well as Fable Legends. Fable Legends itself was apparently very, VERY far in development, with some people who played it in the beta attesting that a F2P form of it could've already been released at this point. Today, MS 1st party lost 3 projects that we know of, not just two studios. And MS had not just sunk money into these game's development, but also in acquiring & technically training them (Lionhead is said to have produced some solid tech for UE4).

MS invested a lot into these companies and are now telling us that they will continue to invest & focus in the kind of games gamers want to play? Make no mistake - any 3rd party contract is now liable to be dropped at a moment's notice as far as i'm concerned. Quantum Break will come out, but Scalebound & ReCore are projects i'm afraid for now. If MS was willing to cut a project & close a studio that was months away from shipping, while also shutting down another studio that had a large amount of potential within its own niche, than who is to say they will continue on any contract that isn't pushing some other vested interest? Thats why i'm sure Crackdown will make to launch, since that is pushing their physics cloud-rendering tech.
 
S

StealthPandemic

Banned
Loch Doun said:
Exactly.

Microsoft has the most third party relationships in the industry...
Iron Galaxy, Remedy, Insomniac, Platinum, Moon Studios, Armature, Reagent, Playground, etc.

If this is their strategy moving forward, I have no problem with it.
Click to expand...

Wait isn't Moon Studios owned by Microsoft?
 
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