Microsoft Ceases Fable Legends Development, Closes Two Studios: Other studios closed too?

[the-pi-guy]

Remaining studios are:

• 343
• The Coalition
• Mojang
• Turn 10
• Lift London
• Microsoft Casual Games
• Rare
• XBOX Fitness

Insane.  

[kitler53]

Remaining studios are:

• 343
• The Coalition
• Mojang
• Turn 10
• Lift London
• Microsoft Casual Games
• Rare
• XBOX Fitness

dang.  salt on the wound.

[Xevross]

Microsoft Studios website current vs cached https://t.co/rYqoXcnCcM pic.twitter.com/9ArOdrxFAZ

— David Scammell (@VG_Dave) March 7, 2016

Team Dakota might be gone as well.

BigPark, Function Studios, Good Science, LXP and SOTA, too. https://t.co/cuAjNCDoH2

— David Scammell (@VG_Dave) March 7, 2016

Ouch!

[DerNebel]

Seriously, I don't like saying this because it's almost more of a meme that's used everytime someone at a Sony studio is laid off, but what the hell is going on at MS?

[Xevross]

Seriously, I don't like saying this because it's almost more of a meme that's used everytime someone at a Sony studio is laid off, but what the hell is going on at MS?

Execs are putting their feet down.

[DerNebel]

I mean cutting out the fluff leaves you with 5 actual studios that make games for the core, 3 of which are entirely dedicated to one franchise each and nothing more and 1 more that is basically currently just updating one game that is available on every platform in existence, leaving Rare as the only one making a new IP, while at the same time being a studio that is widely known to have fallen from grace more than almost any other dev out there in the last 15 years. That should be utterly unacceptable for a first party.

And to think that over these last few days I've seen so many comments along the lines of "Xbox One exclusives going to PC means more money for MS, so more money for MS to make games". MS better have some amazing masterplan here, cause right now none of their actions would instill me with any faith in Xbox, if I were a fan of the brand.

[Max King of the Wild]

Seriously, I don't like saying this because it's almost more of a meme that's used everytime someone at a Sony studio is laid off, but what the hell is going on at MS?

Sony was bloated and needed to trim down... MS first party this gen was suppose to GROW to compete with Sony's according to fans. MS never had as big as Sony's even after Sony downsizing.


2011 but lololol http://www.vgchartz.com/article/87222/microsoft-our-first-party-studios-are-superior-to-sony-amp-nintendo/
http://www.vgchartz.com/article/260558/phil-spencer-looks-to-nintendo-when-it-comes-to-strong-first-party-line-up/ <- 2015 lol

2008 http://www.vgchartz.com/article/2012/microsoft-well-always-take-on-sonys-first-party-titles/

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

Ex Lionhead Producer: Microsoft the "Destroyer" of 1st Party Studios; Imagines Dedicated Executioner Waiting for Reckoning
"Really sad to hear the news about Lionhead. Microsoft really are the destroyer of first party studios. Seven years ago was a different story."   -Daniel Gray via Twitter.

[ethomaz]

You know when a company is not doing well when they did make their product more expensive than the fire sale done in previous year.

Xbox One today is more expensive than in early 2015.

The loss of money for then in 2014/2015 was maybe huge at the point they needs to cut things today.

Of course tales from my dog

[Aura7541]

You know when a company is not doing well when they did make their product more expensive than the fire sale done in previous year.

Xbox One today is more expensive than in early 2015.

The loss of money for then in 2014/2015 was maybe huge at the point they needs to cut things today.

Of course tales from my dog

The PS4 beat the XB1 in the US last year despite being $50 more expensive during the "preseason". The XB1 has no hope at beating the PS4 at price parity, so a $50 pricecut won't make a difference nor is it feasible for Microsoft. To make matters worse, the exclusive lineup for the first half of this year is rather poor. It is only comprised of Roblox, Cobalt, Stranger Sword City, and Quantum Break, all of which are not 100% XB1 exclusives. Fable Legends was going to have an open beta this spring, but it is now cancelled. The XB1 is still afloat thanks to multiplats, but how much longer can they help? It is getting more and more difficult for Microsoft to grab 3rd party deals.

[Horizon]

This news is truly staggering to me. Microsoft are clearly inept at running first party studios. They should have done what Sony have done with Japan Studio and Sony London and rebooted the studio. Microsoft needs first party more than ever now with third party unwilling to do exclusives and whilst there are still some good second party studios out there they will not be cheap. I cannot believe Lionhead actually did not want to make Fable 4 or a new I.P. Fable Legends sounds like it came from a checklist on MS's tab: Online, co-op/multiplayer, free to play, microtransactions. What a true shame. People go on about Sony cutting or downsizing their studios which they did with Zipper and Sony Liverpool but they also acquired Media Molecule and Sucker Punch at the time which was an upgrade on the studios they closed.

[Raven]

Not sure anyone heard this but it turns out that the Project Spark servers have been offline for almost 5 days now. Microsoft claims they're investigating.

[BananaKing]

This news is truly staggering to me. Microsoft are clearly inept at running first party studios. They should have done what Sony have done with Japan Studio and Sony London and rebooted the studio. Microsoft needs first party more than ever now with third party unwilling to do exclusives and whilst there are still some good second party studios out there they will not be cheap. I cannot believe Lionhead actually did not want to make Fable 4 or a new I.P. Fable Legends sounds like it came from a checklist on MS's tab: Online, co-op/multiplayer, free to play, microtransactions. What a true shame. People go on about Sony cutting or downsizing their studios which they did with Zipper and Sony Liverpool but they also acquired Media Molecule and Sucker Punch at the time which was an upgrade on the studios they closed.

i strongly agree.

its clear that their first party efforts will be focused around Halo, Gears, Forza and Minecraft going forward, and they will work with Second Party to develop other exclusives games like Quantum Break, Scalebound and sunset overdrive. if a second party makes a hit, then they will attempt to buy them and the franchise, or just the franchise like how they did with gears.

its a lot less risky for them to develop an exclusive with a second party than with a first party studio. with a second party they just fund the project and market it. if it flops, they lose on their investment, but they dont have to deal with the studio anymore, they just sever the ties and thats it. no more loss after that. with a first party, they might have to deal with lay offs, and have to continue to pay the wages of the remaining facility.

the thing is, in microsofts position, its much harder for them to convince devs to make exclusives for them, and thats part of why they are making this shift to PC, to have a big enough install base on XB1 and PC to convince devs to work with them exclusively.

[Aura7541]

David Eckelberry is a creative director at Lionhead pic.twitter.com/txqPSuFGgp

— David Scammell (@VG_Dave) March 8, 2016

Confirmed that Lionhead Studios was not told in advance.

[ethomaz]

Yeap the tweets from some employees yesterday hinted to.