Lionhead Studios, the developer behind the popular Fable series, has been shut down by Microsoft Studios.
In a blog post on the official Xbox website, Microsoft announced that chances to its European studio has led to the closure of both Lionhead and Press Play, the small development team working on Project Knoxville. Lionhead’s closure means that the studio’s upcoming game Fable Legends has also been cancelled.
Founded in 1996 by Peter Molyneux, Lionhead were responsible for the influential 2001 real-time strategy game Black & White, before moving onto the Fable series. While Fable failed to meet director Molyneux’s lofty claims, the series still garnered a lot of praise from its fans, with Fable Legends set to be a co-op spin-off from the mainline franchise that was due to release on the Xbox One and PC.
But now its release has been canned, with Microsoft branding the decision to axe the UK studio “tough.” A statement from Hanno Lemke, Microsoft Studios Europe’s general manager, reads:
“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. 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.”
We hope that the talented teams at both Lionhead Studios and Press Play find employment in the near future.
