Fable developer Lionhead is closing today, marking the end of a 20-year run for the studio.
Microsoft announced a “proposed closure” of the studio last month but, “after much consideration”, has reached the decision to shut it for good. The beta for the studio’s latest game, Fable Legends, was taken offline on April 13.
“We can confirm that after much consideration over the six week consultation period with Lionhead employees, we have reached the decision to close Lionhead Studios,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Eurogamer. “We have nothing but heart-felt thanks for the team at Lionhead for their significant contributions to Xbox and the games industry.”
Lionhead was co-founded by Peter Molyneux back in 1996 and released its first game, PC god game Black & White, in 2001. It released Fable three years later in 2004, going on to release further games in both series, along with Hollywood tycoon game The Movies.
It also worked on multiple cancelled titles, including pre-historic survival game BC, infamous Kinect game Milo & Kate and Fable Legends.
A report earlier this month claimed that “certain Lionhead employees” had proposed opening a new independent studio to Microsoft with which to continue working on Fable Legends. Microsoft’s intentions for the future of the Fable IP have yet to be made clear.
Source: eurogamer.net
