Ardent Prayer Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 Microsoft has announced today that Fable Legends developer Lionhead Studios may be closing down and that the title has been cancelled. The studio's shutdown has not yet been outright confirmed as of yet but it is in discussions with the employees. “These have been tough decisions and we have not made them lightly, nor are they a reflection on these development teams—we are incredibly fortunate to have the talent, creativity and commitment of the people at these studios,” Microsoft Studios Europe General Manager Hanno Lemke wrote on the Xbox Wire. “The Lionhead Studios team has delighted millions of fans with the Fable series over the past decade. Press Play imbued the industry with a unique creative spirit behind games like Max: The Curse of Brotherhood and Kalimba, which both captured passionate fans. These changes are taking effect as Microsoft Studios continues to focus its investment and development on the games and franchises that fans find most exciting and want to play.” The reasons behind the closure has not been officially released yet. Any players who have been granted into the title's open beta will be able to continue playing until the server shutdown on April 13th @ 3PM GMT. The in-game Gold bank has been immediately closed and players will be unable to purchase any amount. If any gold has been purchased but not used at all, players will be refunded by Microsoft. Expect to recieve an email from Microsoft on instructions for that next week. Microsoft had high hopes for this title and had though it potential to have lasted 5-10 years with regular content coming to keep it fresh. Looks like that's not the plan now, hm? Were any of you looking forward to the game? Did any of you sign up for the beta? RIP to the Fable series. Kept going strong only to get cut down. sources: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/after-cancellation-fable-legends-beta-will-stay-on/1100-6435437/ www.pcgamer.com/fable-legends-is-cancelled-lionhead-studios-to-close/ http://www.polygon.com/2016/3/7/11172408/fable-legends-canceled-lionhead-studios-closing This post has been promoted to an article 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guts Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 I didn't expect the game to be cancelled or Lionhead potentially being closed. However, Legends is nothing like previous Fable and I never expected anyone to care about it or for it to sell well. It's still sad to see this happen to a good company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drizzy_Dan Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 I was shocked at this news today. I didn't know Lionhead was doing so bad. Nice article Ardent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowFiend216 Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 This makes me sad. Fable is such a great franchise. I knew it wasn't the most popular, especially after Fable: The Journey, but I didn't think it had gotten this bad. RIP Lionhead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Director Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Lionhead studios closing doesn't come as a surprise to me. They aren't known for meeting deadlines, and they aren't known for good business decisions either. For instance, they released Fable Anniversary for the Xbox 360 a full year after the Xbox One was released without porting it to Xbox One and without backwards compatibility being a thing at the time. That combined with them constantly pushing back deadlines and having a reputation for reworking games in the later stages of development means that it actually comes as a surprise that Microsoft didn't shut them down earlier. I loved the Fable series, and was intending on playing Fable Legends (even though it didn't appeal to me very much), but I understand the cancellation and Lionhead's potential shutdown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinreaper Posted March 9, 2016 Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 This comes as absolutely no surprise at all. Company issues aside, Microsoft knew full well the state of the partnership they had and the financials/internal trouble that Lionhead had. Yet, MS still used them to push Windows 10 and their "commitment" to PC gaming. As I see it, it was all a sham and there was no clear intention of following through with anything. Lionhead may have a bad reputation in the Gaming Business, but Microsoft overshadows everything a majority of the bad companies do. So what's left now? Halo Wars 2? What a joke.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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