The 20th birthday cake will be accompanied by a lock for British developers Lionhead Game Studios – the team, formed by Peter Molyneux, Steve Jackson Mark Webley and Tim Rance is closing down. Because of this closure, an upcoming game is also receiving the axe. What happened?

Microsoft decided to close down both Lionhead as well as the Danish Press Play Studios. From them, we have played Max and the Curse of Brotherhood and Kalimba. Unfortunately, their upcoming Project Knoxville is not going to be finished.

This is the official statement from Microsoft’s Hanno Lemke, General Manager of Microsoft Studios Europe:

„[…]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.[…]”

Lionhead was formed in 1996 after multiple employees of Bullfrog breaking away. At Bullfrog, Molyneux’s last project was Dungeon Keeper and the final biggest title of Bullfrog was its sequel, respectively. What did Lionhead work on in the past two decades?

They have created several excellent games! Black & White (I-II-Creature Isle), Fable (I-The Lost Chapters-II-III-Heroes-The Journey-Anniversary), The Movies. Mr. Molyneux (who always seemed to promise more for his games than what they got in the final, retail version) has grouped together a very talented team, although he did quit after Fable: The Journey. Fable Legends, which was in closed beta for a while, will also be shut down on April 13,

Microsoft also said it was „in discussions with employees about the proposed closure of Lionhead Studios”. That is a legal requirement for a company over a certain size. In the UK, a consultation process must take place when this number of redundancies are announced – how long depends on the number of employees affected.

We can only guess why the Redmond crew decided to close one of the biggest names in Microsoft Game Studios. One thing is certain: it’s going to hurt the „greens”.