Fable Legends Has Been Cancelled, Lionhead Studios May Be No More

Fable Legends

Bad news today. Microsoft announces the sudden cancellation of Fable Legends and proposes to shut down completely its developer, Lionhead Studios.

In an unexpected way, Microsoft has confirmed today that there won’t be any Fable Legends. What is more, this death-blow comes hand in hand with the possibility of closing the studio that created this and other amazing titles, Lionhead Studios. Additionally, they will close Press Play Studios in Denmark and discontinue their work on Project Knoxville, announced last year.

Hanno Lemke, general manager of Microsoft Studios Europe has been the one in charge of communicating this. “There have been tough decisions and we have not made them lightly, nor are they a reflection on these development teams”, he has written via Xbox Wire. “We are incredibly fortunate to have the talent, creativity and commitment of the people at these studios”. A pledge that now seems rather bittersweet.

Fable Legends

Is The Cancellation Fable Legends the Closing of an Era?

The iconic Lionhead Studios was founded back in 1996 by Peter Molyneux. It delivered its first hit, Black & White, five years after. When Microsoft acquired the studio in 2006 they had already brought Fable to the world. This action-RPG game was highly praised by critics and players alike, who enjoyed generally its concept of free will and the alignment upshots of the Hero’s actions.

Fable’s proposition was interesting back then and fueled a number of sequels, becoming quickly the most profitable and well-known title of the company. That pervading quality and scope even brought the attention of a plethora of actors, who gave their voices to different characters in Fable III. Among those were Michael Fassbender, Stephen Fry, Naomie Harris and even Ben Kingsley.

Fable Legends had everything in place to take us back to the universe of Albion. To its compelling stories, heroes and villains, the synthesis between open world and classic RPG. It was designed to work cross-platform between PC and Xbox One and had been in development since 2013. It was actually pretty deep into it (latest newsletter was sent to subscribers during February), aiming for an open beta phase during spring this year. An open beta that will never arrive.

 

Fable Legends

This is not the first time that such a giant as Microsoft announces the closing of an emblematic studio. They already broke some hearts when they decided in 2008 to dismantle Ensemble, famous for the Age of Empires series and the first Halo Wars. It is always hard to see veteran studios closing doors.

We can only hope that Microsoft remains faithful to their desire to support the development communities in the UK and Europe. Whether they are AAA blockbusters or creations from the indie side of life, Hanno Lemke confirms the commitment of Microsoft towards new IP and originality that they offer on their platforms.

As with a lot of things in this industry: time will tell.

Source: XBox Wire

Share this article:

Facebook
Twitter
Reddit
Pocket
Email
Tumblr
Final Checkpoint Podcast
Full Circle Podcast
Latest Posts

Share this article:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Tumblr
Email
WhatsApp

Recent Posts

The LG transparent tv from CES displayed in a high rise apartment CES

LG at CES 2025

Every year CES comes around and every year, LG has a great booth. They may be one of the most consistent companies when it comes to showing technology at the ...
Six Days in Fallujah Key Art. Two soldiers preparing for breech Features

Real Warfare with Six Days in Fallujah

Six Days in Fallujah was originally announced in 2009. It is a first-person shooter based on the 2004 conflict in Iraq. It was met with much opposition because it is ...
The Mad Catz M.2.X Pro Force Feedback racing wheel Gaming

Level Up You Racing Experience With the Mad Catz M.2.X. Pro Racing Wheel

Mad Catz, the company known for their fight sticks, is releasing a new force feedback racing wheel. The Mad Catz M.2.X. Pro force feedback racing wheel is the perfect plug-and-play ...
Three fortnite character overlooking the map Features

How Fortnite Hurt The Gaming Industry

When Fortnite was initially released in 2017, it was a PVE defense game that didn’t seem like it would be around for long. With the growing popularity of games in ...
Master Chief holding his helmet. Halo Infinite Features

What Halo Infinite Should Have Been

https://youtu.be/Cagxj2RchQI?si=_fFf3fs_fsh7d0Fq Many people have a gaming franchise that changed their life in some way. I have life-long friendships that have been formed while playing games like Mario Kart and Golden ...
Gaming News

Should You Buy A Meta Quest 3S?

https://youtu.be/EVSbA2Yxx2k?si=G2KXmPguAB_45u5n Meta recencetly heald their Meta Connect conference and announced some excited things if you’re into VR and AR. The Meta Quest 2 was once the hottest item in their ...