Lionhead has announced that John Needham has been appointed as studio head of the company, a position that was left vacant following Peter Molyneux's departure last year. In Needham's new position, the former CEO of Cryptic Studios and Gazillion Entertainment will be reporting directly to Microsoft's Phil Harrison.

"This is a historic time in our industry and I’m excited, and honored, to be joining Lionhead and Microsoft Studios," John wrote on the company's web site. “Our vision is focused on building innovative gaming services and AAA experiences at Lionhead, and the rest of Microsoft Studios, which take advantage of Microsoft’s incredible hardware and software platforms. Personally, I can’t wait to get started.”

Lionhead has gone quiet since the October release of the Kinect-powered game Fable: The Journey. Perhaps we'll hear something as the studio's parent company, Microsoft, starts talking about the Xbox 360's successor.