Lionhead Studios

Lionhead Studios Limited
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
PredecessorBullfrog Productions
FoundedJuly 1997; 27 years ago (1997-07)[1][2]
FoundersPeter Molyneux
Mark Webley
Tim Rance
Steve Jackson
Defunct29 April 2016; 8 years ago (2016-04-29)
FateDissolved
Successors22cans
Media Molecule
Two Point Studios
PixelCount Studios
Headquarters
Guildford
,
England
Key people
Peter Molyneux (managing director) (1997–2012)[3][4]
Mark Webley (chief operating officer)[5]
Gary Carr (chief creative officer) (2011–2015)[6][7]
Tim Rance (chief technology officer)[4]
ProductsBlack & White series
Fable series
The Movies
ParentMicrosoft Studios (2006–2016)
WebsiteOfficial website (archived version from 1 April 2016)

Lionhead Studios Limited was a British video game developer founded in July 1997 by Peter Molyneux, Mark Webley, Tim Rance, and Steve Jackson. The company is best known for the Black & White and Fable series. Lionhead started as a breakaway from developer Bullfrog Productions, which was also founded by Molyneux. Lionhead's first game was Black & White, a god game with elements of artificial life and strategy games. Black & White was published by Electronic Arts in 2001. Lionhead Studios is named after Webley's hamster, which died not long after the naming of the studio, as a result of which the studio was very briefly renamed to Redeye Studios.

Black & White was followed up with the release of an expansion pack named Black & White: Creature Isle. Lionhead released Fable, from satellite developer Big Blue Box. In 2005, Lionhead released The Movies and Black & White 2. Lionhead was acquired by Microsoft Studios in April 2006 due to encountering financial difficulties. Many Lionhead developers left around this time, including co-founder Jackson and several developers who left to found Media Molecule. Molyneux left Lionhead in early 2012 (shortly after the resignation of another group of developers who were dissatisfied with the company) to found 22cans because he wanted to be more creative. After Molyneux's departure, Microsoft had Lionhead switch to developing games as a service games. As a result, there were many changes within the studio.

In early March 2016, Microsoft announced that it had proposed closing Lionhead Studios and that the planned game Fable Legends would be cancelled;[8][9] Lionhead was closed down almost two months later, on 29 April.[10] A few months after Lionhead's closure, two key people (Webley and Gary Carr, who was Lionhead's creative director) founded Two Point Studios.

  1. ^ "In The Chair With Peter Molyneux". Retro Gamer. No. 71. Bournemouth: Imagine Publishing. pp. 82–89. ISSN 1742-3155.
  2. ^ "An Audience With Peter Molyneux". audience. Edge. No. 47. Bath: Future plc. July 1997. pp. 22–27. ISSN 1350-1593.
  3. ^ "Microsoft Game Studios Acquires Video Game Luminary Peter Molyneux's Lionhead Studios". Microsoft. 6 April 2006. Archived from the original on 20 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  4. ^ a b Daniel Cooper (7 March 2012). "Peter Molyneux leaves Lionhead and Microsoft to found 22 Cans". engadget. Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  5. ^ Griffin McElroy (13 March 2012). "Former Sony exec Phil Harrison takes over Microsoft's European Game Studios". Polygon. Archived from the original on 20 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  6. ^ Chad Sapieha (20 September 2012). "Fable: The Journey creative head Gary Carr on playing Kinect games from your couch". Financial Post. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  7. ^ Ben Barrett (30 May 2017). "The Theme Park creators are returning to their roots with a new game". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  8. ^ McWhertor, Michael (7 March 2016). "Microsoft cancels Fable Legends, plans to shut down Lionhead Studios". Polygon. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  9. ^ "Fable Legends is cancelled, Lionhead Studios to close". PC Gamer. 7 March 2016. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  10. ^ "Fable developer Lionhead closes down today". Eurogamer.net. 29 April 2016. Archived from the original on 29 April 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.