Lionhead Studios Closing After 20 Years, Fable Legends Cancelled By Microsoft
Two decades of British games industry history is heading for the chopping block as Microsoft announces a gloomy end for Lionhead Studios. The Guildford-based developer was founded by Peter Molyneux after Electronic Arts bought up Bullfrog Productions.
Why the sudden turn of events for the long-running studio? Microsoft has canned the latest project from the team - Fable Legends. It was a spin-off of sorts for the once beloved fantasy RPG series where multiple player-controlled heroes can band together and fight monsters as well as another player who played as the villain. The other heroes and villain could also be AI controlled. It was coming to Xbox One and PC but now will instead face the scrap heap.
The free-to-play co-operative RPG has been in the works since the middle of 2012. Good news for anyone who spent money on the game as they're to be refunded. "We will be providing all players who purchased gold a full refund,” Lionhead announced. “Players who are eligible for a refund will be provided further information by email within the next 7 days.”
Fable Legends will continue to run its closed beta until April 13th with no new sign-ups; in-game purchases are disabled.
The Lion's Roar
The history of Lionhead Studios is a rich one with some of the most promising games from the crazy mind of Peter Molyneux. It began with the God game Black & White in 2001 which was a successor to Molyneux's previous big hit Populous. Instead of controlling a shaman who wielded power and commanded her tribe to greatness, now you were actually a God brought into being by a desperate prayer of a family of a drowning child. You save the little snot-nose and go on to build yourself a faithful flock of settlers.
A major twist for Black & White was the introduction of a huge towering creature that was a kind of living representative of our Godhood, and one that we could nurture and teach behaviours and even powers. How they interacted with the world and its people was ours to shape and instruct. It was also a perfect opportunity for more unique elements to a God game and some good lowbrow British humour.
It was followed up in 2002 by Creature Isle which focused on Tyke, a young version of whatever creature you have chosen for yourself. Basically your creature became a father/mother and was responsible for Tyke in the same way you were responsible for the creature. It would learn and grow to mimic its parent and could eventually mature into a full AI and independent creature.
Fable is today what Lionhead is mostly known for and the original is still hailed as the best heroic/villainous adventure to have in Albion, despite its age and various frustrations. It launched on the original Xbox in 2004 and rocketed to critical acclaim for giving players a great deal of freedom to choose how their hero developed, who they liked and loved, and whether they were kind or a total jerk.
This also marked the beginning of the now infamous Peter Molyneux promises following his enthusiasm for 'the acorn'. So grand was Fable, he claimed, that it could simulate an acorn being planted and grow into a mighty oak. Trouble was at the time implementing such a system was a huge resource drain and ultimately never happened. It symbolised Molyneux's overexcited and over-promising nature.
PC gamers finally got their keyboards and mice on Fable in 2005 with Fable: The Lost Chapters. This was more than just a port of the Xbox version as it actually included a whole new section of the RPG. In fact it 'finished' the game as the original had its true ending cut before it launched. A whole new region became available and a final showdown with Jack.
Gods Be Praised
The studio was busy in 2005 as they also launched Black & White 2 as well as The Movies.
Black & White 2 was a sequel to the God game and looked to improve on the divine formula. It did, some times, but it arguably lost its punch in other areas. For one thing you no longer faced off against another God on each island but rather a faction and their creature. Yes, creatures still remained a major part of the strategy game but had been reduced to little more than behavioural sliders. Black & White kept a great deal of your creatures information hidden while Black & White 2 presented it all up front.
It introduced armies into the mix but it was never a strong real-time strategy for war. Black & White 2 was still at its strongest when it was all about godly powers and worship. It did dramatically expand on the city-building aspect which was a great improvement over the original's rather messy settlement expansion.
The Movies embraced Lionhead's appetite for simulation and humour once again as we took control of a Hollywood movie studio at a time when theatre and radio reigned supreme. We had to build up our movie making juggernaut from scratch hiring writers, directors, extras and stars. Not only did we have to manage a budget and get the production line of movies up and running but we had to keep a close eye on our movie stars. As the years rolled by and technology improved so to did star-struck vanity and vice.
It represented more of Molyneux's past in simulation titles like Theme Park and Theme Hospital were you run a business and try to keep things from spinning out of control. It was a fun, quirky and admittedly addictive business sim.
The Black & White 2: Battle of the Gods expansion in 2006 corrected the mistake of not letting us square off against another deity, with the kicker being an 'undead God' as our rival. It helped spice things up and included some new buildings for us to consider when building our Greek civilization up but combat still suffered from being the weaker of all our divine strategies. Kill them with kindness.
What's an action flick without stunts? The Movies: Stunts & Effects also came in 2006 and featured new facilities and employees once you creeped nearer the 1960s and action movies got bigger and more audacious. New props and sets joined the stunt doubles on set along with fast moving land and air vehicles like cars and helicopters. Lionhead also included a Free-Cam for players to really start directing their own mini-movie projects in-game.
An Old Dog, Some New Tricks
Fable had its first leap in years with Fable II arriving in 2008; sadly it was destined to be locked as an Xbox 360 exclusive. A lot had changed since the original hero and villain RPG with emphasis now more on the action side of things and 'one-button-combat' that greatly simplified moment-to-moment action. The studio also introduced a dog that would faithfully follow you around on your adventures and would assist in battle, as well as bark when they detected nearby treasure and enemies.
Co-operative play was a big thing for Fable II with loot and riches split between the hero and their hired player-controlled henchman.
Another leap came just two years later in 2010 with Fable III which did come to both PC and Xbox 360. It was a major step up in scale for the RPG whilst still keeping its simplistic combat. Now you were leading the charge in a rebellion against your own tyrannical brother and securing the throne of Albion for yourself. Along the way you'd be making promises to those who help you in the war, but ultimately as the newly crown monarch it's up to the hero to keep or break promises.
Aside from introducing some new interesting mechanics and decision making in the late game, the rest of Fable III didn't change much since Fable II and its PC version suffered a little too much from its console counterpart, mostly in user interface.
A smaller slice of Fable debuted in 2012 with Fable Heroes which was a beat 'em up with heroes represented as dolls. It was a 'family-friendly' entry in the Fable series and released over Xbox Live for Xbox 360. It has a small footnote in the studio's history as the larger Fable: The Journey took the spotlight the same year for its big push of Microsoft's Kinnect. Criticised for being 'on-rails' and just plain gimmicky for its use of Kinnect, Fable: The Journey was a mixed bag as it embraced a rigid linear design, whereas previous Fable games had let you have freedom to quest and partake in a wider simulation.
A celebration of where it all began was Fable: Anniversary in 2014 which took the original Fable: The Lost Chapters and transposed it into the more modern Unreal Engine 3. It sought to dust off the RPG and bring new as well as old fans back. Sadly, while there were improvements, it did little but actually make things worse for those who played the PC and Xbox 360 version. On the plus side it did support some limited modding and helped satisfy some of that Fable craving.
Microsoft Hunts Game
Fable Legends was supposed to be the future of the Fable franchise on PC and Xbox One but tragically has been cut short by Microsoft. Hardly Lionhead Studios first bright hope cast into darkness as other works that never made it included a Black & White 3 and the genuinely intriguing Kinnect prototype Milo & Kate where we were to befriend a young boy who reportedly had some troubles at home.
Microsoft has given a definitive answer on Lionhead Studios future and it's another sorry chapter for the games industry. It may not have produced a solid hit every time but Lionhead was brave enough to try out new ideas. While Lionhead may be heading for retirement, what of the Fable franchise and Black & White? Surely Microsoft's HoloLens could use some divine IP?