What Happened to Lionhead Studios?

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#fable #kinect

Fable is a beloved xbox exclusive RPG that spawned sequels (Fable 2, Fable 3 and the upcoming Fable 4) and Remakes (Fable The Lost Chapter and Fable Anniversary).

If you remember Black & White or Fable. It means, well, it means we’re old, but it also means you probably remember Lionhead. Lionhead studios was the home of some of the most ambitious games in the industry. A creative juggernaut of the early 2000s. Home of major franchises such as Black & White and Fable. Yet we’re not all sitting on the edge of our seats for the next Lionhead game. So what happened?

Before we can look into the history of Lionhead studios, we need to learn about where the developers came from. Bullfrog Productions was the innovative UK darling that came before Lionhead. Founded by Peter Molyneux and Les Edgar back in 1987, Bullfrog was a small 35 man team dedicated to making intelligent, system-heavy games. It was the home to several fan favorites such as Populous, Syndicate, Dungeon Keeper, the Theme Park series, and Theme Hospital. Many of their games would go on to earn cult-classic status.

But as successful as Bullfrog was, their ideas were larger than what their bank account could allow. Developers at Bullfrog wanted to introduce new technology and new ideas into the gaming industry, such as advanced animation and learning artificial intelligence. And so, after talks with Sony, Philips, and Virgin, Bullfrog studios was acquired by Electronic Arts. Sadly this is where the story becomes all too familiar for those following the gaming industry.

While Bullfrog would continue to develop successful games at EA. Things had changed a lot for the original 35 Bullfrog developers. Peter Molyneux found himself no longer working on individual games but instead had climbed the corporate ladder ending up as vice-president of EA and head of their European branch. In his own words, Peter Molyneux states, “When EA acquired Bullfrog there were, like, 35 people, and within nine months there were 200. And any feeling of culture and inventiveness was diluted by that.” And so, after a meeting with some other key developers, Mark Webley, Steve Jackson, and Peter Molyneux left Bullfrog and EA to create Lionhead Studios.

Their first release would be Black & White, released in 2001. Published, in a one-off deal, by no other than EA. Black & White was a strategy game where a player takes on the role of an all-powerful deity to defeat another all-powerful deity competing for world control. The player would do this by influencing the human population. Either by conducting miracles or destructive acts of god. Meaning that you could earn influence over the tiny humans either by them admiring and worshiping you or fearing your wrath. One of the key components was the creature that would carry out your bidding. The creature’s personality and actions would evolve as you played based on how you treated it and your behavior. Black & White’s artificial intelligence was praised, and the game received universal acclaim. Lionhead’s first game was a hit.

After the success of their first title, the new studio would expand and establish a satellite studio Big Blue Box, who, unbenounced to Lionhead at the time, was working on their next big franchise. Fable was released in 2004 as an Xbox exclusive, with Microsoft publishing the game. It was a large (for the time) action role-playing game that captivated the industry. The lead-up to Fable’s release is where Peter Molyneux got his notorious habit of overpromising his games. And while the missing promised features were noted, Fable would receive high praise from critics and go on to be the top-selling game for the month of its release.

[ShenyanMetal]

Lionhead was something special to me at least, it just had some bit of flavor, tone or feel that just stood out in my eye. Between its heavy hitters or even the canceled Inkwell project. Even after all these years, it still remains to be my most beloved studio. Thanks for the vid.

[TechWarlockTutorials]

That Mass Effect clip lmao. This is a sad story to watch, Lionhead games were some of my favourite as a kid, and I always rooted for them as they were a UK studio. Black & White (and Dungeon Keeper) were some of my most played titles. Hopefully these type of stories are less frequent in current times, as I feel like studios are able to keep afloat with crowd funding and other means.

[soldadoamrani]

I hope the new Fable will be a huge succes so potentially a black & white remaster or remake can be made, make it playable on consoles perhaps, and then if that's a succes future B&W projects and keeping the foundation of the first game intact.

[MasterBlek]

The Movies and Black & White are the greatest games ever made!
How could they not be successful?!?

[travisrassel]

It's a shame they are no more. They were my favorite studio.

[rcgamer]

It's crazy to me that The Movies was a flop. That game is really fun and sucks you in.

[Velumbra]

Insightful. Well done.

An unfortunate story of degradation caused by greed that is annoying commonplace.

Remember the guys behind Dead Space? Visceral Games.
A shame not because they died but because of why they died.

Everything must die, best accept that lest we be unprepared for our own fate, but that doesn't mean we gotta accept the reason behind a particular death since some are downright unjust and untimely.

Then again... maybe the new guys that now hold Fable will take it to newer heights?
Something even greater than Fable 1 & 2?
A potential outcome if an unlikely one.

Take Baldur's Gate 3 for example... A long dead IP being revived with a ton of passion by a bunch of talented nerds named Larian Studios.

Sure, the game is different from what came before but to say it's objectively worse would be ignorant and wrong.

Perhaps Fable 4 may follow a similar path of "evolution".

[samuelaubrey]

Theme hospital.... Now that's a game I almost forgot about. 🤣 Was a great game.

[TLOZ]

Black and white was the best game.. we wait for 3

[Mightypi]

Kinda makes the point that things getting harmgonised to an (allmost) comical lvl, is a bad thing.

Also badly acted sheppard is the last best hope of humanty

[darthrevan]

The Idea Behind The Kinect Was A Great Idea, But Honestly Is It Not A Better Idea To Just Get Rid Of The Controller All Together?

[randalstilskin]

Their initial games were buggy yet creative problem with Lionhead is their sequels were far more inferior to the originals.

[weldjibla]

When Microsoft puts its hands on something, it'll vanish .... where's Rareware For God's sake !? Now Lionhead .... who else !?

[MXART]

Milo, oh Milo, what a fiasco and scandal it was. A true Kinect system seller. False project that dropped down so hard that it killed even Kinect and the developer.

[hmamsb]

Wait if the devs are dead(not actually dead), how does Microsoft imagine bringing back Fable?

[fable_enthusiast]

Good games at first, poorly managed, just like telltale