Lionhead now an online-focused studio starting with 'Fable Legends'

Lionhead Studios is now an online-focused developer, according to head of studio John Needham.

Needham, who joined the studio earlier this year from Star Trek Online and City of Heroes developer Cryptic Studios, said "every game" in future will have "connected" elements.

"Our vision is to connect players with fantastic games, so every game we do from hear on out will have great connected online layers," he told Digital Spy at gamescom.

"We're online game guys, that's the studio. We love online games, we love interaction with real people, and we want to bring that magic to Fable."

Discussing the origin of Fable Legends, Needham said he wanted to extend the franchise's trademark interaction with characters and NPCs to real people.

"The thing we thought a lot about was [when making Fable Legends], part of what makes Fable special is the interaction with the characters and the NPCs," he said.

[Excalibur]

Lionhead, as much as I like the Fable series, do something new already.

[Mystogan]

I think this is the first hint that their going for something new.

[HammadTheBeast]

Basically, Fable's dead now? That's a shame. 1 and 2 were actually good.

[KonsoruMasuta]

Well, they just lost a customer.

[-Foxtrot]

Just when you think they would improve the studio after Peter left

What is with all this online stuff next gen

WatchDogs (LOTS of social features)
The Crew
The Division
Destiny
Fable Legends etc

[CaptainPunch]

Tbh online isn't all that bad if its done correctly. While I love single player games playing co-op can be a blast.

[-Foxtrot]

Co-op is alright if it's done correctly but only in new games built up around the feature like Borderlands or L4D. When an old IP tries to force it into their games it just dosent work. Dead Space or Resident Evil for example.

I mean some stupid people want it in Elder Scrolls and Fallout despite them being pure single player games and the fact Bethesda can hardly even do a single player game with bugs let alone co-op ones.

With these online games next gen I feel like it's the beginging of a trend...and it's not a good one because I feel like single player games will end up dying off all together.

I mean the Division sounds and looks amazing and at the time I thought it was single player but now that it's basicaly an MMO I'm not sure anymore. Your going to start to get good looking games in the future which will force you to go online to enjoy them. I'm all up for new IPs but not when all of them are online focused.

[Shadonic]

Online isnt always bad

[andrewsqual]

This is clearly the dead remains of the original online required Xbone. While they took the feedback from the preorders and reversed everything, somehow they thought that bringing this type of Fable game that nobody wants is the way to go. Why?

[Mystogan]

And won many more.

[WeAreLegion]

That's the problem. They THINK this will gain them customers.

[malokevi]

60% of consoles are on Xbox Live... some odd 50 million people.

Those are the real gamers. Thats where the money is. Thats where the fun is. Nobody gives a crap about you single player junkies anymore.

Go play Nintendo.

[christian hour]

Malokevi I wish I could downvote you for being "immature" and "trolling" but I can only pick one... and I dunno which one to pick. In fact I find I have that dillema with most of your posts.

Lionhead have gone the way of Rare if you ask me, they're not the company they used to be, they've grown to big in size for there to be any personality behind their games. You could see it slowly disappear as each Fable game came out.

Good developers make games out of passion that stems from their personal life experiences, thats what makes a good game unique and stand out in the crowd. There's very little chance of that ever happening again at Lionhead.

[HammadTheBeast]

@malokevi

More like 35 million, but OK.

[malokevi]

@christian

Report me all you want chumbo, can't argue with the facts. Multiplayer is the way forward for Xbox.... GO PLAY NINTENDO!

"Good developers make games out of passion that stems from their personal life experiences"

puhhhhhh-LEEZE! Why don't you go write a heartfelt short story.

@hammed

ahahahaha. Alrighty then... I'll just drop this 4 month old article here and let you mull over it.

http://www.gameinformer.com...

[True_Samurai]

@malokevi

Ooh kill em ooh kill em lol
You just proved your point

[christian hour]

@malokevi I will go play nintendo, then I'll play my 360, then maybe i'll throw in some time on steam, finished up with a nice glass of ps3.

Yr missing the point here, it's about catering to gamers of all shapes, sizes and preferences. You start to focus on one aspect of gaming only and you're basically telling people you don't give a shit about them. I like playing multiplayer, and I also like playing single player, sometimes I like to be a social gamer, other times I just want to escape from the world and its shittiness. A lot of gamers are introverted people and use single player experiences as a way to escape from the hustle and bustle of society. But continue to be selfish and think only of yourself, it won't get you very far. But your ego will have you think otherwise I'm sure.

[WeAreLegion]

Here's the thing.

Half of Lionhead left years ago to form a little studio called Media Molecule.

I'm not saying the talent is gone. Fable: Legends looks pretty fun. I'm just saying MOST of the talent is gone. We may never see them make a game as fun as Fable 1 or either Black & White again. :/

[christian hour]

Agree'd :D

I wish I read this before I posted above.

Not only did most of the talent go with those guys, but the passion too. When dev's stop being excited about their IP, that's when it's time to stop buying it, it only exists because the publishers from on high demand they do more of the same, because, money.

[FortKnight]

This industry changes so fast. And I was just recovering from the fact that Sacred 3 is going to suck... now I'm reminded we'll probably never get another Black and White.

[DiRtY]

I would love to see a Fable game with a strong online component and evolving worlds thanks to the cloud. That would be awesome.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

I am fine with the "online" direction for Lionhead but more importantly I would like to see Lionhead come out with a new IP that they could do some rotation with Fable on ... every other year type stuff so Fable doesn't become even more saturated than it is. I love the Fable world but I do want to see it get some time off and allow gamers to grow hungry for it again.

[thisismyaccount]

1995 - 2012

The Macho Era, were men had the obligation to save any sexy woman in distress, it was like a deity for us. SAVE´em and fuck´em as many you can, was our WAY of Life back then...wonderful times.

2013 - 2111

The Homo Era or the Metrosexualized Era of Gaming history, were men clearly have lost their Way of Life, due Female getting more testerone injected then normally and converting them from hot chics with 2 slotmachines..into a a men look like with doly buster alike cleavage, saving the men in distress out of deadly situations... what the EFF!? is wrong with me.. i mean with this trailer :

Doly Buster as a Guardian tank, tanking that huge troll.. who would normally just smash all of them into pieces.. seriously.. that thing was like 11 foot tall, how in the name of Rambo, can a sexy doly buster wiht quadruple sized double D save a men from 1x troll attack....

That Bard clearly spent too much time in front of a mirror (bathroom).. what a womenized puss! And what happens to the beared warrior getting attack by the 2x little ones or what ever it was, i really don´t remember what those were... but just let´s keep this going and so.. let´s call them mini trolls...guess what happens there ? YES he panics, he crpas in his panties.. and needs to be rescued by that DIVA, sexy witch...

Men in games are the females of the past.

[christian hour]

Wtf are you on about?! Thats one of the craziest sexist things I've ever read on this site. Way to play in to gender stereotypes and generalize the sexes, you uneducated dumb ass.

Unless this is an extremely bad attempt at sarcasm.

[gk07]

black and white 3 would be nice : )