Since the news about Xbox games coming to PC hits, there was no mention of Fable Legends in the lineup. This was one of the first games Microsoft announced to incorporate cross-play with Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. Turns out now we know why. In a post on Xbox Wire, Microsoft announced the closure of Press Play Studios in Denmark, which were working on a fan-voted pitch of a survival game called Project Knoxville. The other casualty is Fable Legends.
Fable Legends would have been a new direction for the RPG series after the exit of Peter Molyneux, the founder and previous head of studio celebrated for his work during his time at Bullfrog studios making great games like Populus, and a known ambitious visionary who has unfortunately promised more than he delivered– even on his current project Godus. Fable Legends was supposed to be an asynchronous multiplayer game, a team of 4 against 1 main baddie- akin to Evolve, but less gritty and more fantastical in nature. It was announced later on to be a free-to-play game, with an open beta scheduled for this year. A closed beta has been running for a while, even until the day of this report.
An odd decision at a time when Microsoft looks to having more games for Xbox One and their recent Windows 10 push, which has some folks- including Epic’s Tim Sweeney– up in arms. But it’s not the first time they have cancelled their first party games. A reboot of Phantom Dust was (kind of) cancelled last year, for instance.
Note that in the post, Microsoft says they “are in discussions with employees about the proposed closure of Lionhead Studios in the UK”, the wording is implied that Lionhead may close, but not confirmed at the moment. Though the Danish studio is confirmed for closure.
Best of luck to those affected with the news, and hopefully they land on their feet with another job, creating new games or proceed to other ventures, as soon as possible.