Lionhead, the Peter Molyneux-founded studio that gave us Black & White and Fable, is now officially closed down. News of the looming closure was revealed in early March, when Microsoft announced that it was “in discussions with employees” about closing it down. Those discussions are now over, and the outcome, which was never really in doubt, is final.
“We can confirm that after much consideration over the six week consultation period with Lionhead employees, we have reached the decision to close Lionhead Studios,” a Microsoft rep told Eurogamer. “We have nothing but heart-felt thanks for the team at Lionhead for their significant contributions to Xbox and the games industry."
Former Lionhead employees are tweeting their farewells and memories with the #RIPLionhead, but the saddest and most jarring evidence of Lionhead's shutdown is probably to be found at lionhead.com, the studio's website, which now leads straight into a “server not found” error.
Today is the official last day of @LionheadStudios :'(Damien - thank you for this wonderful and perfect art! X https://t.co/S0Rky2N0wzApril 29, 2016
We said a few words of our own about the closure of Lionhead shortly after the bad news was delivered, mourning the loss of “what could have been as much as what was,” but there's still a chance—faint, no doubt, but a chance—that Lionhead's legacy will live on: It was reported earlier this month that a survey taken during the consultation process suggested that former employees might be able to continue working on Fable Legends under the banner of a new, independent studio.
