Microsoft plans to close Lionhead Studios

Microsoft took over Lionhead Studios back in early April 2006 and now it looks like they plan to shut down the studio behind the notorious Fable and Black & White franchises. The company announced the decision to cease development on Fable Legends, and also revealed they "are in discussions with employees about the proposed closure of Lionhead Studios in the UK."

According to Hanno Lemke, General Manager of Microsoft Studios Europe, the company will close Press Play Studios in Denmark, halting development on Project Knoxville. In an official post on Xbox Wire, he writes that "These changes are taking effect as Microsoft Studios continues to focus its investment and development on the games and franchises that fans find most exciting and want to play."

Lionhead Studios has been around since 1996, so they will close their doors after a decade as an independent studio and another decade under Microsoft's flag. Fable Legends has been announced back in 2013, this cooperative action-adventure game showing up at trade shows in various forms and the changes it went through/were planned included the transition to the F2P model, which was announced last year.