Lionhead Studios is finally closed: will we ever see a new Black & White?

They say all good things must come to an end, and it seems they are correct. One of Microsoft’s most successful and well-known video game developers, Lionhead Studios, has finally shuttered its doors. We knew this would happen based on the announcement from the software giant last month, but it’s still sad regardless.

There have been reports about a possible discussion between Microsoft and Lionhead employees about saving Fable Legends, the last video game the developer worked on before it was canceled and that ultimately caused the closure of the studio. It is said that the developer wanted to take Fable Legends with them and release it as a free-to-play title, but there’s still no word if that will happen.

While Microsoft hasn’t confirmed Fable Legends’ fate, the company did confirm the closure of Lionhead Studios in a recent chat with Eurogamer.

“We can confirm that after much consideration over the six week consultation period with Lionhead employees, we have reached the decision to close Lionhead Studios. We have nothing but heart-felt thanks for the team at Lionhead for their significant contributions to Xbox and the games industry.”

Lionhead Studios is mainly known for the Fable franchise and Black & White games, but the company has failed to produce a hit in years. While the studio began work on Fable Legends many moons ago, from the first day of its announcement one could tell the game’s development was never going to end well. But we never once had the thought that Fable Legends would ultimately be the end of Lionhead, so the news hit us like a brick.

We can only hope Microsoft does a better job with its current line of video game development houses. One could say the reason for Lionhead’s closure came down to bad management on the part of the software giant.

The question remain: will we ever see a Black & White 3? The first two games were great, but it is becoming clear that a third may never happen for a long time to come. Current studios are focusing on big budget projects and smaller games that have the potential to convince gamers to go out and purchase an Xbox One. In all honesty, we doubt a Black & White 3 would be able to sell any Xbox One systems today.

If you’re gaming on a Windows PC, go ahead and check out some of the best Windows 10 games from the Windows Store to get over your post-Lionhead Studios blues.