Lionhead Studios shuts down

[Infinitron]

https://www.ign.com/articles/microsoft-xbox-lionhead-studios-mistake

Microsoft Admits Its Handling of Lionhead Studios Was a ‘Misstep’
“I wish Lionhead were still a viable studio."

In a new six-part documentary series Microsoft has said that its handling of Lionhead Studios, which was shut down in 2016, was a “mistake” that helped shape the way Microsoft now works with its acquired developers.

The sixth episode of Power On: The Story of Xbox features a short segment dedicated to Lionhead. “One of the biggest missteps that we learned from in the past was Lionhead,” said Shannon Loftis, who was General Manager of Global Games Publishing when Lionhead was shuttered. “We had already published Fable 1, and it was a hit... People wanted more, and so we bought Lionhead. Those were good years.

“But after Fable 2, Kinect came along and the Fable-Kinect marriage just never really took,” she explained. “And then Fable: The Journey was a passion project for a lot of people, but I think it deviated pretty significantly from the pillars of what made Fable 1 and 2 so popular.”

“We acquired Lionhead in 2006, and shut it down in 2016,” said Sarah Bond, Head of Game Creator Experiences and Ecosystem at Xbox. “A couple of years later we reflected back on that experience. What did we learn, and how do we not repeat our same mistakes?”

So what did Microsoft learn? “You acquire a studio for what they’re great at now, and your job is to help them accelerate how they do what they do, not them accelerate what you do,” said Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox.

It’s clear, at least among those interviewed for the documentary, that Microsoft realises that they messed up with the British studio. “I wish Lionhead were still a viable studio,” said Loftis.

While Lionhead is sadly no more, the studio's legacy lives on with a new Fable game, currently in development at Playground Games. This new version will balance old and new ideas for the fantasy RPG, and will be built on the Forza engine, which is no bad thing considering Forza Horizon 5 is one of the most beautiful games ever made.

 

[Straight elf]

Maybe they could have learned this valuable lesson already in 2009 when they forced Ensemble Studios to make console games killing the studio in the process.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Yeah singling out Lionhead’s shuttering as one of their greatest mistakes seems… myopic.

 

[KörangarTheMighty]

Wait, Lionhead is dead? Shit, I didn't even know it was sick...

Actually, now that I think about it, I do remember Legends being canceled. It didn't surprise me at the time, Fable seemed to be a series without a market at that point. Better options for babby's first "RPG" had come along since the mid-late oughts.

 

[gurugeorge]

Fable means nothing to me, Lionhead means nothing to me - but Bullfrog will always have a place in my heart. Populous, Syndicate, Magic Carpet, Dungeon Keeper, Syndicate Wars, those were great games in their day, and more or less by the same people IIRC.

 

[Slaver1]

There was always a distinct British irreverence in their games that made them stand out. They also kept churning out good unique PC games even for a while after being bought by MS. Nobody else is making games like Black and White and The Movies anymore. Now there's a yawning indie chasm on one side and focus group derived mass advertised AAA garbage on the other and very little worthwhile in between. We really are heading into the dark ages again on so many fronts.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

in an industry completely made of sell-outs, moulyneux managed to be made fun of even by rockpapershitcuck. that's quite something. die, trash.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

It's always the same formula: Shut down studio, have some phony regret in hindsight. Being an asshole now comes disguised with introspection and apologies, rather than old fashioned Bobby Kotick style "I got nothing to say fuck off."

 

[:Flash:]

Its funny how the article makes it sound like Fable was totally a Lionhead thing. Fable originally wasn't a Lionhead studios game. There was this thing called "Lionhead affiliates", where Molyneux promised small studios to use his unmatched skill in hyping and bedazzling the press to hype their game for a share in the profit. Fable was such an affiliates thing by an independent studio originally. Nothing in the game was envisioned at Lionhead.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

From Mobygames: Big Blue Box Studios was a Guilford, UK-based development studio founded by Simon Carter, Dene Carter and Ian Lovett in 1999, all former Bullfrog Productions employees. The company became a satellite studio of Lionhead Studios around 2000 (as an autonomous entity, but with full support) and went on to create Fable (2004) for Lionhead, working as a first-party Microsoft studio. When the game went on to sell over three million copies, Lionhead quickly integrated Big Blue Box into the main Lionhead team, ending the separate company. The studio's site disappeared in the summer of 2005.

Even if the original Fable wasn't developed by Lionhead itself, its development team was led by another set of former Bullfrog employees (checking the credits, more than just the three listed above).

 

[Young_Hollow]

Maybe they could have learned this valuable lesson already in 2009 when they forced Ensemble Studios to make console games killing the studio in the process.

According to ES's wikipedia, they weren't forced to make console games pre se but they were assigned a slew of non-RTS games to produce, which would've been difficult even for a studio that made that shit regularly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensemble_Studios It was the massacre of the ages (pun intended), especially considering ES was advancing the age-up formula from game to game and would've done something great if they were allowed the time and life to do what it was good at.

Almost 13 years later, M$ relies on Relic's backburner to make Age of Empires IV while whipping AoE2 modders to continue selling DLCs for the other Age games and buys Bethesda for RPGs.

It was PC gamers who lost the console wars.

 

[Magnum]

It was PC gamers who lost the console wars.

Died around 2006.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_for_Windows

The brand itself represents a standardized technical certification program and online service for Windows games, bringing a measure of regulation to the PC game market in much the same way that console manufacturers regulate their platforms.

Xbox 360 peripheral compatibility
Part of the Games for Windows initiative involved ensuring that Xbox 360 peripherals, such as the Xbox 360 Controller and Wireless Gaming Receiver worked across Windows platforms.
Xbox 360 peripherals not only work with certified games, but also with the default games included with Windows Vista, such as Minesweeper

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_for_Windows:_The_Official_Magazine

Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

It was the successor to Computer Gaming World. The first issue was released in November 2006.As of the April/May 2008 issue, the magazine is no longer offered in print and the editorial staff was integrated with 1UP.

MS feared the Sony Playstation 2 DVD drive so much they thought it was going to take the place
of a desktop computer... in the living room, sitting 10 feet away on a couch, looking at a TV.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/microsoft-releases-xbox-gaming-console

"The PC for the living room"

Sony was positioning its Playstation 2 as an “entertainment system” meant not only for gaming but also for playing DVDs, music and other media.
In order to rise to this challenge, Microsoft designed the first-ever gaming system (living room console) to use PC technology, such as an internal hard disk drive.

What started with the original Xbox came to a head with Vista/X360. Controller compatibility and console demographics.
Crysis was the last hurrah of the true PC era, a fitting name in hindsight. Bioshock would usher in the new console standard on Windows,
which might be a fitting name also.

A Games for Windows title isn't a Windows computer game but rather a console game that
also plays on Windows. While that particular brand failed it lives on in the current Xbox on
Windows features and Game Pass.

 

[vonAchdorf]

It's always the same formula: Shut down studio, have some phony regret in hindsight. Being an asshole now comes disguised with introspection and apologies, rather than old fashioned Bobby Kotick style "I got nothing to say fuck off."

Studios are overrated. Most of them have a run for a couple of years, enough to create one or more good games, but not long enough to create a legacy, a culture. They die when the founders are getting bored with the stuff they make or they fail to adapt to or even better shape gamers' tastes. Blizzard came close to creating a legacy, a style, but stumbled on the last mile. Did Rockstar make it? Is there a gaming Pixar?

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

It's always the same formula: Shut down studio, have some phony regret in hindsight. Being an asshole now comes disguised with introspection and apologies, rather than old fashioned Bobby Kotick style "I got nothing to say fuck off."

Studios are overrated. Most of them have a run for a couple of years, enough to create one or more good games, but not long enough to create a legacy, a culture. They die when the founders are getting bored with the stuff they make or they fail to adapt to or even better shape gamers' tastes. Blizzard came close to creating a legacy, a style, but stumbled on the last mile. Did Rockstar make it? Is there a gaming Pixar?

Companies are overrated? Tell that to the Siemens, BMW or IG Farben CEO's. Many of those have been founded in the Kaiser times and are still around. Don't see a reason why Software can't build on the same longevity. Not in the US probably, but still, to say there's a law of the hamster life expectancy for Software is deflecting off larger problems.

 

[Tyranicon]

It's always the same formula: Shut down studio, have some phony regret in hindsight. Being an asshole now comes disguised with introspection and apologies, rather than old fashioned Bobby Kotick style "I got nothing to say fuck off."

Studios are overrated. Most of them have a run for a couple of years, enough to create one or more good games, but not long enough to create a legacy, a culture. They die when the founders are getting bored with the stuff they make or they fail to adapt to or even better shape gamers' tastes. Blizzard came close to creating a legacy, a style, but stumbled on the last mile. Did Rockstar make it? Is there a gaming Pixar?

Nintendo's been going strong for decades, and despite all the mistakes they make, there's no signs of them stopping. Any studio that gets successful enough eventually becomes a megacorp.

 

[vonAchdorf]

Companies are overrated? Tell that to the Siemens, BMW or IG Farben CEO's. Many of those have been founded in the Kaiser times and are still around. Don't see a reason why Software can't build on the same longevity. Not in the US probably, but still, to say there's a law of the hamster life expectancy for Software is deflecting off larger problems.

Not companies per se, but creative companies are probably a different thing. I think publishers have a better chance for longevity. Many companies have problems to outlive their founders - especially if the didn't create a strong culture, and I think the problem is even bigger in creative industries.

 

[vonAchdorf]

Nintendo's been going strong for decades, and despite all the mistakes they make, there's no signs of them stopping. Any studio that gets successful enough eventually becomes a megacorp.

Yes, it's an exception with a strong culture, like Disney (though both morphed into something more akin to a publisher than a studio).

 

[Ryzer]

Yes, it's an exception with a strong culture,

Thanks to their mascots : Mario and Zelda. It had become so mainstream with each new installment.