Many of us are probably still mourning the closure of the UK-based Lionhead Studios, but a recent report published by Kotaku UK claims that Microsoft turned away several potential buyers of the first-party developer which, if true, is likely going to raise many questions.
The most pertinent one will surely be, if so many individuals were interested in taking the studio off Microsoft’s hands – and subsequently saving it from closure – why didn’t the software giant accept any of them?
According to Kotaku, several letters of intent were sent to the company as a means of showing genuine interest in buying the studio, but complications involving the Fable IP essentially destroyed any further interest.
The post continues to explain that a source close to Microsoft attributes the company’s reluctance to sell the Fable brand along with Lionhead that led to no sale being made. The source claims that “90% of the people interested just walked away” after realizing they would have to – as pointed out by Kotaku – gain a licensing agreement from Microsoft if they were to have Lionhead develop any further games in the series.
Sadly, Lionhead Studios isn’t the only respected games studio to have closed over the years (THQ and Team Bondi immediately come to mind), but, knowing that Microsoft could have saved Lionhead from having to close – assuming the report is accurate – if they had opted to sell the Fable IP probably isn’t going to sit well with a great many people.
