Peter Molyneux Mark Webley Tim Rance Steve Jackson
Defunct
29 April 2016; 8 years ago (2016-04-29)
Fate
Dissolved
Successors
22cans Media Molecule Two Point Studios PixelCount Studios
Headquarters
Guildford
,
England
Key people
Peter Molyneux (managing director) (1997–2012)[3][4] Mark Webley (chief operating officer)[5] Gary Carr (chief creative officer) (2011–2015)[6][7] Tim Rance (chief technology officer)[4]
Products
Black & White series Fable series The Movies
Parent
Microsoft Studios (2006–2016)
Website
Official website (archived version from 1 April 2016)
Lionhead Studios Limited was a British video game developer founded in July 1997 by Peter Molyneux, Mark Webley, Tim Rance, and Steve Jackson. The company is best known for the Black & White and Fable series. Lionhead started as a breakaway from developer Bullfrog Productions, which was also founded by Molyneux. Lionhead's first game was Black & White, a god game with elements of artificial life and strategy games. Black & White was published by Electronic Arts in 2001. Lionhead Studios is named after Webley's hamster, which died not long after the naming of the studio, as a result of which the studio was very briefly renamed to Redeye Studios.
Black & White was followed up with the release of an expansion pack named Black & White: Creature Isle. Lionhead released Fable, from satellite developer Big Blue Box. In 2005, Lionhead released The Movies and Black & White 2. Lionhead was acquired by Microsoft Studios in April 2006 due to encountering financial difficulties. Many Lionhead developers left around this time, including co-founder Jackson and several developers who left to found Media Molecule. Molyneux left Lionhead in early 2012 (shortly after the resignation of another group of developers who were dissatisfied with the company) to found 22cans because he wanted to be more creative. After Molyneux's departure, Microsoft had Lionhead switch to developing games as a service games. As a result, there were many changes within the studio.
In early March 2016, Microsoft announced that it had proposed closing Lionhead Studios and that the planned game Fable Legends would be cancelled;[8][9] Lionhead was closed down almost two months later, on 29 April.[10] A few months after Lionhead's closure, two key people (Webley and Gary Carr, who was Lionhead's creative director) founded Two Point Studios.
^"In The Chair With Peter Molyneux". Retro Gamer. No. 71. Bournemouth: Imagine Publishing. pp. 82–89. ISSN 1742-3155.
^"An Audience With Peter Molyneux". audience. Edge. No. 47. Bath: Future plc. July 1997. pp. 22–27. ISSN 1350-1593.
^"Microsoft Game Studios Acquires Video Game Luminary Peter Molyneux's Lionhead Studios". Microsoft. 6 April 2006. Archived from the original on 20 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
^ abDaniel Cooper (7 March 2012). "Peter Molyneux leaves Lionhead and Microsoft to found 22 Cans". engadget. Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
^Griffin McElroy (13 March 2012). "Former Sony exec Phil Harrison takes over Microsoft's European Game Studios". Polygon. Archived from the original on 20 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
^Chad Sapieha (20 September 2012). "Fable: The Journey creative head Gary Carr on playing Kinect games from your couch". Financial Post. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
^Ben Barrett (30 May 2017). "The Theme Park creators are returning to their roots with a new game". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
^McWhertor, Michael (7 March 2016). "Microsoft cancels Fable Legends, plans to shut down Lionhead Studios". Polygon. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
^"Fable Legends is cancelled, Lionhead Studios to close". PC Gamer. 7 March 2016. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
^"Fable developer Lionhead closes down today". Eurogamer.net. 29 April 2016. Archived from the original on 29 April 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
LionheadStudios Limited was a British video game developer founded in July 1997 by Peter Molyneux, Mark Webley, Tim Rance, and Steve Jackson. The company...
LionheadStudios was a British video game developer located in Guildford, England. It was founded in July 1997 by Peter Molyneux, Mark Webley, Tim Rance...
the game was finally released. In April 2006, LionheadStudios was acquired by Microsoft Game Studios. At E3 2006, Peter Molyneux gave several interviews...
and the Fable series for Bullfrog Productions and later LionheadStudios, and Two Point Studios has other developers from those companies and Mucky Foot...
breed of domestic rabbit LionheadStudios, a computer game development company Lion Head (Alaska), a mountain in Alaska Lionhead Unit, a campground at Priest...
role-playing open world video game, developed by LionheadStudios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360. The game is the second installment...
Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher based in Redmond...
role-playing open world video game, developed by LionheadStudios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The third...
position, he left the company in July 1997 to found LionheadStudios. Others would follow him to Lionhead, and some founded their own companies, such as Mucky...
action role-playing video game developed by LionheadStudios and projected to be published by Microsoft Studios for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One. Microsoft...
up video game in the Fable series, developed by LionheadStudios and published by Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360. Announced at the 2012 Xbox Spring Showcase...
LionheadStudios. Games designer Peter Molyneux, with whom Hassabis had worked at Bullfrog Productions, had recently founded the company. At Lionhead...
Fable developer LionheadStudios began developing Fable Fortune in late 2014 as an unannounced project. At the same time, Lionhead was publicly developing...
predominantly by artist Mark Healey, while working for LionheadStudios, along with other Lionhead employees, such as David Smith and Alex Evans. Rag Doll...
Mojang Studios is a Swedish video game developer based in Stockholm. The studio is best known for developing the sandbox and survival game Minecraft, the...
by Healey, developed Rag Doll Kung Fu, whilst working at LionheadStudios. They left Lionhead in 2005 and presented an early precursor of LittleBigPlanet...
of acquisitions of studios to help build out the Xbox software library over its first decade, including Bungie, LionheadStudios, and Rare while establishing...
Bullfrog Productions and LionheadStudios. Peter Molyneux, who had previously founded Bullfrog Productions and LionheadStudios, established 22cans on 20...
Elixir Studios was a British video game developer. The company was founded in 1998 by Demis Hassabis, formerly a prominent figure at LionheadStudios. At...
strip) by Johnny Hart, and one of its characters BC (video game) by LionheadStudios BC The Archaeology of the Bible Lands, a BBC television series Bullet...
includes veterans of LionheadStudios. This game for Amazon will be a new IP focusing on online cooperative play. In March 2022, studio head Mike Frazzini...
Xbox Game Studios (formerly Microsoft Games, Microsoft Game Studios and Microsoft Studios) is an American video game publisher that is a division of Microsoft...
Jellyfish.com LinkedIn LinkExchange LionheadStudios Maluuba Massive Incorporated Metaswitch Mobile Data Labs Mojang Studios Ninja Theory Nokia Devices and...
Global Information