No More Fable - Microsoft mulling Lionhead shutdown

[Giggling Ghast]

The Fable series is dead, apparently, and Lionhead Studios may soon follow suit.

http://kotaku.com/sounds-like-microsoft-is-shutting-down-iconic-game-stud-1763272488

"After much consideration we have decided to cease development on Fable Legends, and are in discussions with employees about the proposed closure of Lionhead Studios in the UK.

"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."

A bit sad, since Fable 2 was my first game on the XBox 360. On the other hand, I kinda recognize the Fable series was, on the whole, not very good.

[Psyren]

Fable Legends wasn't going to be a traditional sequel to the Fable series, so I think it's a bit premature to declare that cancelling that means Fable as a whole is dead, but it's still disappointing to see this news and that we're probably not going to get anything with Fable on it for a long time.

[Sajiri]

On the other hand, I kinda recognize the Fable series was, on the whole, not very good.

Fable 1 and 2 were pretty good, (or maybe I was just more forgiving as a young teen), Fable 3 was...well, hyped quite a bit more than it should have been, and felt rushed. I kind of gave up on Fable games after that, though I did always hope for a proper sequel that wasnt pushed out the door before it was ready.

[Leecros]

I'd love to say that I'm sad to see it go, but I got burned pretty badly on Fable 1. I got really into the hype that Peter Molyneux was throwing out and when it came out it was a big pile of disappointment.


A big short pile of disappointment. It was released in an unfinished state with most of what was hyped removed and a story that could be beaten in five hours.

Then a year later, they released Fable: The Lost Chapters to make up for it, charged full price for it...even if you bought the original and I never looked back.

Personally my bigger disappointment is that this may be the death knell for my hopes and dreams of a Black&White 3. I mean it's been 10 years, but...you know...Hope...dreams....yeah? :smallfrown:

[Togath]

I was honestly looking forward to Fable Legends... I guess the company just decided it was too big of a risk...

[Calemyr]

Well... A bummer, but I can't say I'm surprised. The dead hamster finally fell out of the wheel.

Lionhead has three times out of three within the fable series managed to promise the moon and deliver a slice of moldy cheese.

The first one was actually pretty good (I only got into it after Lost Chapters, so that little stunt didn't hurt me). Bits of it were annoying (like the Guildmaster's nannying), but the combat was fun and diverse and there were some really interesting ideas implemented in it. The plot was comically thin, and they really oversold your ability to impact the world, but but it was fun and that's half the battle right there.

The second one managed to take a very interesting story with intriguing characters with excellent voice actors and somehow make it dull. Seriously. Two of your partners are Stephen Fry and Ron Glass, and I was bored. This. Should. Not. Be.

The third one, though, that just topped it for me. The bloody game seemed design to make everything as tedious as possible with no payoff. It created a series of interesting characters and then marched them off screen to only be heard from once more (if they were lucky) during a relevant court audience. Attempting to do anything was Start Button -> Loading Screen -> Sanctuary Main Room -> Loading Screen -> Sanctuary Second Room -> Fiddling with whatever you wanted -> Loading Screen -> Sanctuary Main Room -> Loading Screen -> Back to the game. And the loading screens were neither short nor interesting nor varied in the slightest. Then there's the fact that all the moral conundrums in the world can be settled by being a decent real estate mogul rather than making hard choices (though, to be honest, I liked this little aspect). And the less said about "Black Dye DLC", the better. Seriously, Microsoft, you were more to blame than them for Fable 3.

And, across the franchise, what is the point of "Marry anyone you want" when every bloody person looks and acts the same? I would have given 3 much more credit if you could marry Page. You know, the mad bomber revolutionary girl you fought beside for the much of the first half of the game? Yeah, she just kinda vanishes.

And the killer is that, honestly, the games weren't bad. I've played bad games and even 3 wasn't bad. They were experimental, trying new things. Not all of them worked, but they were attempted. But because of the bill of goods we were promised each and every time, it was always a colossal letdown.

[Leecros]

I would have given 3 much more credit if you could marry Page. You know, the mad bomber revolutionary girl you fought beside for the much of the first half of the game? Yeah, she just kinda vanishes.

That's okay. In Fable 1(Not The Lost Chapters) Briar Rose appeared near the start of the game and seemed like she would be a competitor and rival throughout the game.

Nope, she's seen maybe once after that and then disappears until the game's climax.

I hear The Lost Chapters did more with her, but that...that bothered me.

[free999enigma]

Hi Guys,

I made a video about this subject and i want to share with you :)

youtube.com/watch?v=uALpAcENNSk

[Zevox]

Meh, can't say I'm surprised. Honestly I thought the first game was thoroughly mediocre, and was unimpressed enough not to bother even trying its sequels. Throw on top of that the almost universally negative things I heard about 3, which I'm pretty sure was the last one to come out a fair few years ago now, and yeah, makes sense to me that the series would get thrown to the curb. Won't miss it.

[Razade]

Not only am I not surprised I'm rather pleased to see this. Lionhead Studios when it was helmed by Peter "We're making amazing games" Molyneux it spat out continuously cut and under performing games. Fable, Fable 2, Fable 3, Black and White, Black and White 2. When was the last game Lionhead made? Three years ago with Fable: The Journey which was universally panned by any outlet with intengrity (looking at you IGN with your 7.2). With Peter trying to and failing to further deliver with Godus and that whole fustercluck it's time to close the doors, bury the corpse and move on. I'd go further and say that it'd be a good day for gaming over all if Peter Molyneux never made another video game for the rest of his life.

[Domochevsky]

Hi Guys,

I made a video about this subject and i want to share with you :)

youtube.com/watch?v=uALpAcENNSk

Iunno if that's my audio, but your mic sounds very ...muffled? Muddy. I've got trouble making out words through the droning of your base. :S

[Leecros]

I'd go further and say that it'd be a good day for gaming over all if Peter Molyneux never made another video game for the rest of his life.

I don't know. The guy has vision. He's had many interesting ideas in many of his games that he's wanted to do and implement. It's just that when it comes to actually implement them...everything falls apart.

I would say that he would do better as an Indie Developer, but it looks like Godus has the same problems. This makes me think that it's more of a "He has ideas, but doesn't have the skills or ability to make them into a workable game."

[Togath]

Wasn't that Peter guy fired before the development of Legends started?

[Nilehus]

Shame. The Fable series isn't the greatest ever or anything, but it was fun as long as you avoided all the hype.

[Leecros]

Wasn't that Peter guy fired before the development of Legends started?

Nah, he left Lionhead to start his own little Indie company which has so far created Curiosity – What's Inside the Cube? and Godus.

Curiosity was popular social experiment where players tapped the cubelets to dig through the surface of each layer and reveal the next layer below. The goal was to reach the center and to discover what was inside the cube. The winner got a little video and was promised a small portion of the profits from their (at the time) upcoming game Godus. Unfortunately they never got back to the winner and the winner never saw any money from it.

Godus is a god game that was kickstarted. It ended up floundering and Molyneux seemingly abandoned it, the company laid off all but a few people and according to reviews I read on Steam...Godus is still in Early access and hasn't made much of any progress.

[Psyren]

I don't know. The guy has vision. He's had many interesting ideas in many of his games that he's wanted to do and implement. It's just that when it comes to actually implement them...everything falls apart.

I would say that he would do better as an Indie Developer, but it looks like Godus has the same problems. This makes me think that it's more of a "He has ideas, but doesn't have the skills or ability to make them into a workable game."

I think he has both - he's just not realistic with his ambitions and so ends up overrunning budgets and time constraints, like, a lot.