Recently news broke that Microsoft had cancelled Fable Legends and were in discussions to close down the developer, Lionhead Studios. It’s surprising, and very sad news for video game fans as Lionhead has crafted some incredible games (even if they never fully lived up to their promises). To fully appreciate what the British developer has contributed, let’s take a look back at Lionhead Studios.
While the studio was best known for being a first-party developer under Microsoft, it wasn’t acquired by the console maker until 2006. That means it spent almost a decade as an independent developer, as the developer was founded by Peter Molyneux in 1996 as the prolific game designer was on the verge of leaving Bullfrog Productions where he worked on titles such as Syndicate, Populous, and Dungeon Keeper.
Lionhead’s first project, called Black & White, would be published by Electronic Arts and was a throwback to Molyneux’s work on Populous. Populous was a highly influential title, and created the entire God game genre. Now Molyneux wanted to outdo himself, and take God games to the next level. He succeeded, as Black & White released to critical acclaim in 2001.
Considering that Black & White took over 3 years to develop, Electronic Arts and Lionhead Studios took little time trying to make back the costs by releasing an expansion to the popular PC title. In 2002, they released Black & White: Creature Isle. It was a run of the mill expansion that didn’t manage to captivate players like the original release did, and was the first misstep that the studio had.
Two years later, Lionhead Studios would release the game that they would forever become associated with – Fable. The ambitious role-playing title was developed by Lionhead’s satellite studio Big Blue Box, and was the company’s first interactions with Microsoft. Fable, which was appropriately called Project Ego during development, was highly touted by Peter Molyneux. The designer stated that it would be “the best game ever.”
It wasn’t. That’s not to say that Fable was a failure, though, as the role-playing game was very well received by both fans and critics. It just didn’t manage to cash the check that Molyneux had written pre-release. This would become a trademark of Molyneux’s career, sadly, and a key part of Fable as a series.
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“Fable, which was appropriately called Project Ego during development, was highly touted by Peter Molyneux. The designer stated that it would be “the best game ever.”
The company had an eventful 2005, it’s last year as an independent studio. They added content to Fable by releasing an expanded version called Fable: The Lost Chapters, teamed up with Electronic Arts once again to release Black & White 2, and created a brand new IP called The Movies.
Black & White 2 was largely considered underwhelming, especially when compared to the impact that the original game had. The sequel didn’t manage to reinvent the genre, as it rather just built upon an established framework. For context, it’d be like if Half Life 3 released and was merely just a good shooter. Understandably, fans were let down by the release.
The Movies on the other hand was very well received. The business sim allowed players to pretend to be a movie mogul, and create their own films. The latter feature was very innovative at the time as it helped popularize machinima. Lionhead would later expand on The Movies with an expansion called Stunts & Effects the next year.
Despite only releasing expansions in 2006, that year ended up being a very important one for Lionhead Studios. Not only did they announce that they were working on Fable II, their first Xbox 360 game, but the studio finally became a first-party developer after being acquired by Microsoft.
Fable II released in 2008 after two years of hype, most of which came from Molyneux’s mouth. Peter has shown time and time again that he’s an incredible promoter, and this time Lionhead finally delivered on the potential they had shown. Fable II released to critical acclaim thanks to several innovative mechanics (such as a bread trail), the ability to have children (which was actually promised for the first game), and a memorable dog companion. Sure, Molyneux didn’t fully deliver on all of his promises, but it’s easier to look the other way when gamers are delivered such a stellar product.
In 2009, Peter Molyneux would take the stage at E3 and unveil a project he had been working on. Called Project Milo, Molyneux was working on an interactive “emotional AI” that worked with Microsoft’s Kinect peripheral. This game would never end up being released, but some of the technology was reused years later for Fable: The Journey.
Lionhead would continue work on Fable, as it became the only series that the developer would work on for the rest of its existence. Fable III released in 2010, and was largely considered a disappointing entry. Critics and fans alike complained about technical issues, simplified gameplay, and repetitive design. It was a disappointment, especially considering ti would be the last big entry in Lionhead’s signature series.
2012 would prove a strange year for Fable, and would be the last year that Molyneux spent at Lionhead. The studio released Fable Heroes, a light-hearted brawler that supported multiple players, early in the year. This friendly family take on the series wasn’t well received, and is largely considered the worst game to bear the Fable name.
Later that year, in October, Lionhead would release the Kinect exclusive title called Fable: The Journey. While the on-rails role-playing game was better received than Fable Heroes, it didn’t fare much better. It received a middling response, and Molyneux left the Fable series with a whimper as he left to form 22 Cans.
The studio’s final release would be 2014’s Fable Anniversary, a remake of the original Xbox title. After work completed on the remake, Lionhead went to work on their last project – the now cancelled Fable Legends. The cooperative RPG had four players working together battling against a villain who controlled an army of creatures. We’ll never get to see the finished work, but there wasn’t too much positive buzz coming out of beta tests.
When taking a look back at Lionhead Studios’ long career as a studio, the closure comes as much less of a surprise. Besides a remake, the studio hadn’t released a great game since 2008. It’s sad to see such an ambitious studio go without finishing their final project, but maybe it’s best they don’t tarnish the name any further.