Microsoft purchases Lionhead Studios

[London Geezer]

That doesn't change the fact that it was a very highly acclaimed game, that poepel are al of a sudden dismissing.

Suddenly? Not really, B&W has been bashed to death by millions of people who actually played it through and saw what the game was really like after the first few hours. Some people loved it, while lots of people found that the hype and "perfect 10's" kind of reviews were totally undeserved.

 

[Sis]

Wasn't Black and White PC game of the year just a few years, ago? Oh yea thats right now their owned by Microsoft they are meh right? How is this anything but great news for Xbox fans?

Microsoft doesn't yet have a strong 1st party stable of developers, as compared to Sony. So adding a company that has seen critcal success but not as much commercial success doesn't seem like a great idea.

Then again, there're a couple reasons I can think of to buy Lionhead that don't directly impact console sales or software sales:

1) stop someone else from buying them. Microsoft has done this many times in the past (it's one of their favorite tactics, right behind "buy out the competition").
2) get the Fable license. Fable did really well. A proper sequel could do even better, if properly developed and marketed.

Either of which are fine, depending on the cost of the acquisition.

 

[Mordecaii]

I can attest to the fact that B&W got to be a really really big PITA with the creature... I have B&W2, but haven't bothered to play it due to flashbacks of painful play sessions from the first game...

I think this is a decent pick-up for MS. Fable will most likely sell decently and hopefully they'll be able to implement more of their ideas with more powerful hardware... It's not a bad thing for X360 owners to know that these games will only come to the X360 and PC, but then again that was likely to be the case anyway so I do have to wonder why MS spent money making them a 1st party developer.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Well this is good news, but not great. Personally I need to know what specific games they're planning on releasing before getting too excited. Fable was already assumed to be coming to 360.

I've never actually had a lionhead game I thought was really great, Fable was decent, B&W decent, but if Ubisoft was in a bidding war over them they must be doing something right. Fable will be a good addition to the library for kids anyways.

 

[EndR]

Apparently, Lionhead will show of some stuff at E3...

For me, If MGS can make so that Molyneux makes a "spiritual successor" of Syndicate, then it will all be worth it.

(EA owns the IP, but MGS can make something that looks like Syndicate but is called something else).

Now..
Two more purchases from MS then im glad..
1. Bioware/Pandemic
2. Mistwalker

(MS needs to absorb these. Both of them will secure a nice stable of RPGs from both east and west)

 

[RancidLunchmeat]

..don't get the bashing.

Guess that's just the nature of some people.

Fable was a fantastic game, especially for Xbox. As somebody who never heard of the game until it was released, I wasn't expecting more than what was delivered.

I'm also not a player of RPGs. Fable is my only Xbox game that isn't racing, a FPS or sports. Then again.. Fable is probably the only game in the Xbox library that isn't one of the above three genres.

The Xbox needed more games like Fable, and the 360 does. This is a positive move for MS, for which they should be praised. Not met with scorn because Lionhead's extremely ambitious games never quite lived up to some imaginary vision you had in your collective heads. Did Doom III live up to its hype? No. So if MS purchased ID, we'd have reason to bash. Did Half-Life 2 live up to its hype? No. So if MS purchased Valve, we'd have reason to bash.

And personally, I'd say that Fable and B&W also went far further in pushing concepts and inventive gaming than Doom III or Half-Life 2 did, even flawed as they were.

Of course, those pointing out that this move is barely newsworthy since Lionhead doesn't develop for anything but MS platforms anyway, have a rather good point.

 

[expletive]

Now..
Two more purchases from MS then im glad..
1. Bioware/Pandemic
2. Mistwalker

(MS needs to absorb these. Both of them will secure a nice stable of RPGs from both east and west)

Good point, those are dev houses that would be both buyable and valuable...

I still think Lionhead is a worthwhile gamble though...

 

[fearsomepirate]

Now..
Two more purchases from MS then im glad..
1. Bioware/Pandemic
2. Mistwalker

Smaller studios getting bought by giant corporations makes me uneasy in general. I'd really prefer that Bioware didn't get bought by MS. The console-ization of the Western RPG is not a beautiful thing.

 

[scooby_dooby]

There's no way Bioware/Pandemic is for sale

 

[Titanio]

Yeah, I think part of the reason they merged was to decrease the chances of a takeover. Plus, doesn't Elevation Holdings own them now? I don't think they'd be looking to sell so soon.

 

[fulcizombie]

Wasn't Black and White PC game of the year just a few years, ago? Oh yea thats right now their owned by Microsoft they are meh right? How is this anything but great news for Xbox fans?

Don't bother,just check out the post hisotry of the people that are negative about this.

At least Rare still exists unlike what hapenned to psygnosis(another great U.K company) that turned into SCEE and produced a ton of crap during the ps2 era(from wipeout fusion to destruction derby-ps2 to getaway..)

 

[EndR]

There's no way Bioware/Pandemic is for sale

Maybe MS can give Elevation partners an offer they can´t refuse

(Granted, grabbing Bioware/pandemic would be difficult. MS should have invested/bought Bioware before that)

 

[poopypoo]

..don't get the bashing.

Guess that's just the nature of some people.

Fable was a fantastic game, especially for Xbox. As somebody who never heard of the game until it was released, I wasn't expecting more than what was delivered.

I'm also not a player of RPGs. Fable is my only Xbox game that isn't racing, a FPS or sports. Then again.. Fable is probably the only game in the Xbox library that isn't one of the above three genres.

The Xbox needed more games like Fable, and the 360 does. This is a positive move for MS, for which they should be praised. Not met with scorn because Lionhead's extremely ambitious games never quite lived up to some imaginary vision you had in your collective heads. Did Doom III live up to its hype? No. So if MS purchased ID, we'd have reason to bash. Did Half-Life 2 live up to its hype? No. So if MS purchased Valve, we'd have reason to bash.

And personally, I'd say that Fable and B&W also went far further in pushing concepts and inventive gaming than Doom III or Half-Life 2 did, even flawed as they were.

Well, no offense, but I think you're right in the Fable target demographic. It's a great thing for the RPG market, really, the kind of "RPG Lite" that can appeal to almost everyone, even if they "don't usually like RPGs". For those of us into RPGs, it's pretty disappointing. I enjoyed it though -- and my girlfriend enjoyed it even more -- that's what counts. I can see getting a Fable 2, just somebody please pass me the barfbag next time they mention Molyneaux i the same sentence with Will Wright and Lord British. guy hasn't made a great game since Syndicate, and actually... in those days, I bet I could think of five titles released the same year better than Syndicate. I forgot all about it until EndR mentioned it.

I do think it's a cool move on MGS' part... I actually expect Fable 2 to be something to pick up for the g/f, and I can't say I'm really thrilled by the rest of the MGS stable right now... call me when the Rise of Nations sequel comes out...

 

[chroniceyestrain]

I thought Fable was a great game. There were a lot of things that you could do that most people didn't realize because it didn't have anything to do with the quest. Fable was also the only original IP to make the top 25 in sales in 2004. So I'd say thats a pretty nice pick up for MS.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

just somebody please pass me the barfbag next time they mention Molyneaux i the same sentence with Will Wright and Lord British.

How's about if I mention the name Peter Molyneux alongside the name Reginald Perrin?

 

[scooby_dooby]

No matter what you think, you can't argue with the sales #'s for Fable. Anything over a million on XBOX is good, especially for a new IP on a console whose users supposedly don't like RPG's.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Has anyone mentioned this interview...
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=15940

What catches my eye is...

Lionhead will be focusing on Games For Windows. Vista is coming out in the January timeframe, so it depends what your definition of next-gen is; next-gen on console is obviously Xbox 360, next-gen on PC and Games For Windows is going to be around Vista. I'm sure that they're going to bringing out the most advanced or the best games that they can on both platforms.

Also, before that...

Lionhead is a very high profile developer, so this acquisition is a great PR move - but realistically, every title they've done to date has been for Windows or for Xbox, so what's the advantage to Microsoft of having them do that in-house rather than doing it externally?
In reality, what it comes down to is that there are a number of business decisions that need to be made when thinking about acquiring a company. We know that a lot of people were interested in acquiring Lionhead, and we were the lucky ones to get them on board. We do have a strategic move of acquiring companies when we feel we need to, but also working with the best developers out there, such as Bizarre, Epic and people like that.
The benefits are that we can do cross-fertilisation of skills between the different developers, they can use the same engine within different games - so it really is the bringing together of different skillsets to make the best games under the Microsoft Game Studios umbrella.

 

[-NakedZ-]

Why would MS spend all that money buying a company that develops [console] games that is almost I guarantee it would end up on MS' machine. That way, they'll get the game but without spending too much dough. Perhaps they were hearing things internally that Lionhead may also create (or port) their games to MS' competition. Though Rare has not "shown" since the buy out, at least I know they create games almost, if not exclusively, to MS' competition.

IMO, this buy out would not be valuable to MS. And Shifty, are you implying that perhaps MS did it to help promote the Vista platform? Or maybe some sort Vista-Xbox 360 kinda stuff? Hmm.

.Z

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Perhaps they were hearing things internally that Lionhead may also create (or port) their games to MS' competition.

There were other interested parties bidding for Lionhead, so it'df make sense for MS to buy them and secure the exclusivity, rather than cross their fingers and hope Ubisoft doesn't get Lionhead producing PS3 varieties.

And Shifty, are you implying that perhaps MS did it to help promote the Vista platform?

Dunno. All I know is the interviewee said Lionhead would be producing Windows games, not XB360 games. I guess that's referring to the current 2 titles in production. Which means Fable 2 probably isn't immediately on the cards for XB360. Maybe Molyneux decided he didn't like writing for consoles and preferred the more resources you can demand of PC users (1GB RAM and GBs free HDD space)?

 

[EndR]

Dunno. All I know is the interviewee said Lionhead would be producing Windows games, not XB360 games. I guess that's referring to the current 2 titles in production. Which means Fable 2 probably isn't immediately on the cards for XB360. Maybe Molyneux decided he didn't like writing for consoles and preferred the more resources you can demand of PC users (1GB RAM and GBs free HDD space)?

I dunno about that. The is experienced with "tight requirements". I had the oppurtunity of talking with him and J Allard at X02 in Spain and one of Molyneux comments was that the Amiga was his absolute favorite hardware to work with...

(Regarding the VIsta comments, the ever so elusive Dimitri game appears to be a PC game and that is likely that it is that game they are being pushed now. For 360, as I understand it, both Fable2 AND B.C is under development)