industry video game industry founded 1 august 1996 ; 20 years ago 1996 08 01 founders peter molyneux mark webley tim rance steve jackson defunct 29 april 2016 headquarters london england key people keith ranger dolliver benjamin owen orndorff products black & white series fable series the movies owner microsoft number of employees 100 parent microsoft studios website lionhead.com lionhead studios ltd. was a british video game developer formerly led by peter molyneux . it was acquired by microsoft studios in april 2006 . 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 mark webley s hamster which died not long after the naming of the studio . black and white was followed up with the release of an expansion pack named black & white creature isle . lionhead then released the popular fable from satellite developer big blue box . in 2005 lionhead released the movies and black & white 2 . on 6 april 2006 it was announced that lionhead studios was to be purchased by microsoft . their most recent game to be released is the hd remake of fable fable anniversary which was released on 4 february 2014 . milo and kate was being developed for kinect though speculation arose concerning whether it was actually a game or a tech demo . production has since been halted . on 7 march 2016 microsoft announced that it had proposed closing lionhead studios and that the planned game fable legends would be cancelled . 1 2 on 29 april 2016 lionhead studios officially closed down . 3 contents 1 history 2 criticism of pre release changes 3 games 3.1 cancelled 4 awards 5 references 6 external links history edit for a period of three years lionhead established satellite companies including big blue box studios developers of fable intrepid games developers of b.c. long since suspended due to a massive overrun and black & white studios who have taken responsibility for the continuation of the black & white series . lionhead proper was working on three games fable b & w2 and the movies . the satellite system has ceased to exist in any meaningful form since mid 2004 however with big blue box having been more or less integrated into the main company and intrepid essentially having been disbanded . lionhead was a privately held company until october 2004 shortly before the suspension of b.c. when a consortium of investors including ingenious ventures idg ventures europe and technology firm add partners made a significant investment into the game developer . this came at a time when the company was in severe financial straits as they had overrun development on two projects black & white 2 and fable and also cancelled b.c. and a project with jeff minter named unity . between september 2005 and april 2006 lionhead successfully released two titles black & white 2 and the movies as well as an updated version of fable entitled fable the lost chapters . these titles did not achieve a massive impact in sales and this left the company vulnerable to a takeover bid . in april 2006 lionhead studios was acquired by microsoft signalling the end of independent development and a focus on microsoft s proprietary gaming platforms . lionhead remained a fairly independent part of microsoft studios which has also acquired rare ltd. and bungie studios bungie studios became an independent studio in late 2007 shortly after the release of halo 3 . on 7 march 2016 microsoft announced the cancellation of fable legends and a proposed closure of lionhead studios . 4 on 29 april 2016 lionhead officially closed down . 3 criticism of pre release changes edit leading up to several lionhead studio game releases peter molyneux s enthusiasm for talking openly about the development and design process of his games caused outcry online when certain features did not make it or were changed during development . he made a rule that he would not talk about game mechanics unless he could show them in game 5 or present certain ideas as prototypes and or experiments . 6 several products such as black and white 2 and fable had features changed or lacking in the final product . peter molyneux said the following on the issue after fable there was a pretty dark time where people looked at the game and compared it with what i said in the press and they felt cheated . i realised that we just couldn t keep on doing that . but that was very much a reflection of how we worked because what i was talking about in the press was what we were experimenting with at that moment and a lot of those experiments would sort of come out as you were making the game . so i d be talking about trees growing and then we d cut trees growing and people would of course feel cheated . so i made a rule i will not talk about any concrete mechanics unless i can actually show you them in game . i ll talk about our ambitions to make the best role playing game of all time but if you see fable 2 press you ll see that i talked about stuff as i demoed it . people understandably get enormously upset about it it s like seeing a trailer for a film and seeing batman die but then he doesn t die in the film ; it would just be wrong . so i think a lot of what we do is realise what we ve done wrong and work to try and make that right . it s far better than thinking that we get things right all the time . 5 games edit title year genre s platform s black & white 2001 real time strategy god game microsoft windows mac os x black & white creature isle 2002 real time strategy god game microsoft windows mac os x fable 2004 action role playing game xbox fable the lost chapters 2005 action role playing game microsoft windows mac os x xbox black & white 2 2005 real time strategy god game microsoft windows mac os x the movies 2005 business simulation game microsoft windows mac os x black & white 2 battle of the gods 2006 real time strategy god game microsoft windows mac os x the movies stunts & effects 2006 business simulation game microsoft windows mac os x fable ii 2008 action role playing game xbox 360 fable iii 2010 action role playing game microsoft windows xbox 360 fable heroes 2012 action adventure game xbox 360 xbox live arcade fable the journey 7 2012 action adventure game xbox 360 fable anniversary 2014 action role playing game microsoft windows xbox 360 cancelled edit unity gamecube bc xbox black & white titan xbox playstation 2 black & white playstation dreamcast inkquest 8 black & white 3 pc the movies gamecube xbox playstation 2 milo & kate xbox 360 kinect fable ii pc citation needed fable legends xbox one pc peter molyneux also discussed justice and survivor during an ign interview . these projects never made it out of the concept stage . 9 awards edit bafta awards 2001 nominated british academy awards for games networked black & white 2001 nominated british academy awards for best original score black & white 2001 winner british academy awards for interactivity black & white 2001 nominated british academy awards for technical innovation black & white 2001 nominated british academy awards for games pc black & white 2001 nominated british academy awards for music black & white 2001 nominated british academy awards for moving images black & white 2004 nominated british academy awards for best original score fable 2005 winner british academy awards for simulation the movies 2006 nominated british academy awards for best original score the movies 2009 winner british academy awards for action and adventure fable ii 2009 nominated british academy awards for best game fable ii 2009 nominated british academy awards for best original score fable ii 2009 nominated british academy awards for story and character fable ii 2009 nominated british academy awards for technical achievement fable ii 2011 nominated british academy awards for best original score fable iii interactive achievement awards 2004 peter molyneux inducted into aias hall of fame 2004 winner for best original score fable 2005 finalist outstanding achievement in character story development fable 2005 finalist outstanding achievement in original music composition fable 2005 winner play magazine overall game of the year fable 2009 finalist outstanding achievement in art direction fable ii 2009 finalist outstanding achievement in original story fable ii 2009 finalist outstanding achievement in game design fable ii 2009 nominee for best original score fable ii 2009 finalist outstanding achievement in game play engineering fable ii 2009 finalist role playing game of the year fable ii others 2004 winner 1up awards best of 2004 best rpg fable 2004 winner ign.com best original score fable 2008 winner peta s annual proggy awards most animal friendly video game fable ii 2009 winner ign.com best original score fable ii references edit mcwhertor michael 7 march 2016 . microsoft cancels fable legends plans to shut down lionhead studios . polygon . retrieved 7 march 2016 . fable legends is cancelled lionhead studios to close . pc gamer . retrieved 7 march 2016 . a b fable developer lionhead closes down today . eurogamer.net . 29 april 2016 . microsoft studios changes . microsoft . 7 march 2016 . retrieved 7 march 2016 . a b interview of peter molyneux . develop . 20 march 2009 . retrieved 7 september 2011 . gdc 09 peter molyneux reveals lionhead design experiments . primotech . 27 march 2009 . retrieved 27 july 2012 . e3 2011 fable the journey revealed . ign . 6 june 2011 . retrieved 7 september 2011 . yin poole wesley 24 september 2014 . fable developer lionhead reveals cancelled game inkquest . eurogamer . gamer network . retrieved 1 november 2015 . peter molyneux interview lionhead s canceled projects . ign . 31 march 2009 . retrieved 27 july 2012 . external links edit official website v t e lionhead studios black & white series black & white creature isle black & white 2 battle of the gods fable series fable lost chapters fable ii fable iii fable heroes fable the journey fable legends other titles b.c. the movies stunts & effects project milo unity see also 22cans bullfrog productions peter molyneux v t e microsoft studios franchises age of empires alan wake banjo kazooie battletoads black & white blinx conker crackdown crimson skies dance central the dishwasher fable forza gears of war halo hexic hydro thunder jetpac joy ride killer instinct kinect party kinect sports lips max & the magic marker mechwarrior microsoft flight simulator midtown madness minecraft miss teen usa motocross madness ninety nine nights perfect dark pinball fx project gotham racing quantum redshift rallisport challenge rise of nations scene it shadowrun splosion man viva pi ata zoo tycoon current subsidiaries 343 industries bigpark the coalition good science studio launchworks lift london mojang rare turn 10 studios former subsidiaries aces studio bungie carbonated games digital anvil ensemble studios fasa studio hired gun lionhead studios press play twisted pixel games xbox entertainment studios people phil spencer phil harrison larry hryb casey hudson bonnie ross joseph staten related list of microsoft studios video games msn games v t e microsoft history all topics people list founders bill gates paul allen board of directors john w. thompson chairman satya nadella ceo dina dublon maria klawe david marquardt charles noski helmut panke mason morfit john w. stanton senior leadership team satya nadella ceo scott guthrie amy hood cfo qi lu terry myerson