Just a month ago, we were quite surprised to see Microsoft announce that it would shutter Lionhead Studios and cease development on Fable Legends, an upcoming free-to-play game on both Windows 10 and Xbox One that would have leveraged Xbox Live to allow cross-platform gameplay between PC and console players. More, Microsoft also warned last month that the closed beta of the game would cease to be available after on Wednesday 13 April 2016, so those who were admitted have only one week of fun left.
But while the end seems near for Fable Legends, Windows Central has just learned (via MCV) that there is a chance that the game could stay alive as the remaining team members at Lionhead Studios are reportedly willing to pursue development independently:
Three sources at the Xbox studio – which Microsoft announced it would close last month – have told MCV that discussions are on-going about saving the free-to-play RPG. There are currently no offers for either the game or the studio, but staff are being surveyed as to whether they would like to continue working on Legends, or just accept the redundancy package that has been put before them and leave at the end of April. This is part of the consultation process Microsoft is conducting.
One of the sources told MCV that this stems from a proposal from certain Lionhead employees about taking Fable Legends and continuing development as an independent studio. Our other two sources were unable to verify this claim, however.
Announced back in 2013, Fable Legends had been introduced as a departure from the single player story-heavy focus of previous entries in the series, and developers at Lionhead Studios previously shared that “we didn’t anticipate just how big Fable Legends is becoming. It’s simply the most ambitious game we’ve ever created at Lionhead.”
After all the work that seems to have been done on Fable Legends since 2013, we really think this game deserves to see the light of day so we hope that the game’s fate is still being discussed by Microsoft and Lionhead employees. Please tell us in the comments if you would like Fable Legends to stay alive.
