Fable Legends Cancelled and Lionhead Studios Might Be Closing

Written by Brandon Hofer on March 07, 2016

News: Microsoft has revealed that they have decided to cancel Fable Legends and that Lionhead Studios themselves might be closing.

Fable Legends is a game that has been in development for quite a while for Xbox One. Unfortunately it looks like that it is being cancelled by Microsoft and that Lionhead Studios itself might be closing. In the UK you can’t just shut down a business without going through some due process to see if there is any way to keep the studio open or to try and explore other avenues so, if Lionhead does indeed close, it won’t be for at least another month, if not more.

In Fable Legends you were going to be able to go on adventures with your friends with up to four heroes cooperating and discovering quests and the stories of Albion. If you wanted to go the other route you could as well as you could mastermind the game in real time as the villain. This all sounded pretty intriguing but unfortunately won’t ever be released.

There was a statement released today by Hanno Lemke, General Manager of Microsoft Studios Europe which you can see below in its entirety:

”Today, I have some difficult changes to announce that affect some of our Microsoft Studios teams and projects in the UK and Denmark.

After much consideration we have decided to cease development on Fable Legends, and are in discussions with employees about the proposed closure of Lionhead Studios in the UK. Additionally, we will close Press Play Studios in Denmark, and sunset development on Project Knoxville.

These have been tough decisions and we have not made them lightly, nor are they a reflection on these development teams – we are incredibly fortunate to have the talent, creativity and commitment of the people at these studios. The Lionhead Studios team has delighted millions of fans with the Fable series over the past decade. Press Play imbued the industry with a unique creative spirit behind games like Max: The Curse of Brotherhood and Kalimba, which both captured passionate fans. These changes are taking effect as Microsoft Studios continues to focus its investment and development on the games and franchises that fans find most exciting and want to play.

I speak for all of Xbox when I say that despite this news, we remain committed to the development communities in the UK and Europe, and Xbox will continue to support new IP and originality in the games we offer on our platforms, whether they’re AAA blockbusters like Quantum Break from Remedy, adventurous new IPs like Sea of Thieves from Rare, or unique new creations from independent developers like Moon Studios with Ori.

We have nothing but heart-felt thanks for the members of Lionhead and Press Play for their contributions to Xbox and gaming. We are committed to working closely with those affected by today’s news to find them new opportunities at Xbox, or partnering with the broader development community to help place them in jobs elsewhere in the games industry should they desire.”

This is definitely sad news as no one likes to see studios be closed and projects with potential be cancelled. Perhaps Fable Legends just wasn’t meeting the quality bar they have set and after a while they decided they needed to cut their losses. That is only speculation on my part but it has been in closed beta for a pretty long time now. I have been fortunate enough to be in that closed beta and play Fable Legends and enjoyed what I have seen. I can’t provide any details due to being under NDA but the game did look like it had a lot of potential.

If you are currently in the closed beta test then you will be able to continue to play Fable Legends until Wednesday, April 13 at 15:00 GMT. That is when the game will become unavailable and the servers will go down. So if you are in the beta and you have enjoyed what you have played you have about five more weeks to get your fill and play as much as you want. If you are not in the closed beta (or have been waiting to get accepted into the closed beta) then you are out of luck as no one else is going to be accepted into the program due to the game’s cancellation.

What do you think about the cancellation of Fable Legends? Were you looking forward to playing it? Did it not interest you? Tell us what you think below.

source: Xbox Wire