Opinion – Microsoft’s Mishandling Dooms Lionhead

The closure of UK studio Lionhead is unfortunate not only because it means a lot of talented, hard-working developers are out of work, but it also represents Microsoft's failure to properly manage one of its tent-pole first-party studios. The poster child for this is the now-cancelled Fable Legends, a title that never found its footing or gained much traction with the public.

Fable Legends was not an ambitious RPG in the mold of its previous numbered predecessors, and its switch to a free-to-play model presented an entirely different vein altogether. The game also added Windows 10 integration (w/ cross-platform play) and Microsoft and Lionhead hoped to make the game an overall platform that would be iterated upon over time. While a lengthy feature set can be attractive, these aren't just bullet points that make the game sound good – they are major undertakings that fundamentally change how the game operates and, in the case of being free-to-play, how it's perceived by the public.

The more you pull back from Fable Legends, however, the worse the picture gets. Fable Legends was just the latest title from Lionhead that was not of the action/RPG model that the series had become known for. Fable Heroes (2012) was a family-friendly beat 'em up game. Fable Journey, released the same year for the Xbox 360, was an on-rails Kinect title.

Lionhead's ambition to stretch out its imagination with the series is admirable, but whether through its own design or parent-company Microsoft's inability to work with the studio to find a successful direction, the series' drift puzzled fans and was not well received. Looking at the trio of Heroes, Journey, and Legends reveals a franchise lurching from one thing to the next, from different genres to embraces of technology that should have Microsoft/Xbox One fans worried.

Journey's embrace of the failed Kinect and Legend's move to free-to-play/games as service seemingly portray a series looking to find new initiatives at the cost of its core identity. While it's natural that Microsoft would want its first-party studios to push the publisher's initiatives – be it Kinect, Windows 10 integration, HoloLens, or whatever – it's alarming that Microsoft's response to its own studio's aimlessness is to close it down. A talented, veteran studio like Lionhead shouldn't have to close its doors because the Kinect was Microsoft's mistake, for instance.

Microsoft recently touted that it's going full-steam ahead with Windows 10 integration for its Xbox One titles and the company's overall support for PC games going forward. What happens if, like Games for Windows, this fails to take off? Will it cause Microsoft to close down studios or enact wholesale changes? Motiga, a studio making the Microsoft-published, free-to-play MOBA Gigantic recently had to layoff part of its staff. Was adding cross-platform play and general Windows 10 integration after development already started (sound familiar Fable Legends fans?) a factor in its current straits?

Game development is a difficult, risky undertaking. While we all hope that Microsoft finds a way to return the Fable franchise to its former glory, it's too late for Lionhead and its former employees. It's unfortunate that the studio never got a chance to make a full-fledged Fable IV before Microsoft closed its doors. Hopefully Microsoft learns something from this experience and prevents it from happening to another first-party studio in the future.