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'Knights and Bikes' captures childhood in '80s England
Knights and Bikes is a game about friendship, adventure and a county in the southwest corner of England called Cornwall. The area is littered with sandy beaches and quaint seaside towns that attract British families looking for a cheap summer holiday. Tourism, though, is not enough to sustain the region during the winter months. Rex Crowle, an artist, animator and video game developer, knows this all too well. He grew up in Cornwall in a farming family that raised sheep. It was a "pretty hard life," he said. Enough so that he sold his own flock at age 10 and bought a Commodore Amiga 500 computer.
A new 'Fable' game is reportedly in the works
A brand new Fable game is in the works, or so says a number of sources close to the rumored project. According to Eurogamer, UK developer Playground has been given the job of creating a new, big-budget revisit to the fantasy world of Albion, and while franchise owner Microsoft said in a statement that it does not comment on rumor or speculation, all signs seem to give the reports credibility. For a start, November 2017 saw Playground openly reveal its plans for its first ever non-racing game, described only as an open-world action RPG. Meanwhile, Xbox boss Shannon Loftis has made no secret of Microsoft's fondness for the franchise.
Xbox's lack of compelling games won't be fixed next year
Microsoft's 2017 started six months early. At E3 2016, Xbox chief Phil Spencer closed out the company's keynote by teasing the "most powerful console ever." At this year's show, he finally revealed the Xbox One X, and in November, the hardware was at retail. In the time it takes to earn a bachelor's degree, Microsoft addressed one of the internet's loudest complaints about the Xbox One: that it wasn't powerful enough compared to the PlayStation 4.
Microsoft cancels 'Fable Legends' and closes Lionhead
Fable Legends has officially been canned and developer Lionhead Studios will be shut down, Microsoft announced in a blog post this morning. Fable Legends was poised to be a free, multiplayer-focused, fantasy-action game -- and a fairly dramatic departure from previous installments in the series. Microsoft announced Fable Legends in 2013 and it was supposed to launch in late 2015, though in December it was delayed into 2016. Lionhead is based in the United Kingdom and it's responsible for franchises such as Black & White and (of course) Fable. Famed game designer Peter Molyneux founded Lionhead in 1997 and led it for more than a decade, even once Microsoft acquired the studio in 2006. Molyneux left in 2012 after finishing Fable: The Journey.
'Fable Legends' will launch after spring 2016
Fable Legends -- Lionhead's free, multiplayer-focused fantasy romp for Xbox One and Windows 10 -- is scheduled to launch after spring 2016. It was originally on tap to release this holiday season. The game's open beta will go live in the spring, ostensibly with the full release close behind. For now, Fable Legends will remain in closed beta, with the studio inviting 100,000 additional players over the coming weeks (sign up for that here).
Fable Legends confirmed for Windows 10, cross-plays with Xbox One [Update]
Fable Legends is in development for Windows 10 PCs, Lionhead Studios confirmed during Microsoft's Windows 10 briefing today. The game was announced in August 2013 as an Xbox One exclusive. PC and Xbox One players will be able to partake in cross-platform cooperative multiplayer. Fable Legends' multiplayer beta launched in October. The developer did not offer a release date for the PC version of the game, though it is expected to arrive this year for Xbox One. Update: Check out the latest screens (below) and a trailer (above) of the game. [Image: Microsoft Studios]
Take a look, Lionhead prototype Inkquest is in a book (and free)
Fable Legends isn't the only game that's been cooking in the labs of Lionhead Studios. A game called Inkquest, which told the story of a girl trapped inside a book, was revealed back in September - though it was only a prototype and not destined to become a full-fledged game. Still, the concept and gameplay were at a point where the project was playable, so Lionhead has released the unfinished build for free to PC users. "This is the exact build that was featured in the [September] video - we haven't developed it any further," the company posted to their blog this week. "As such, there's bugs and rough edges, and none of the gameplay, visuals or features should be considered 'done.' That's the caveaty bit. Please do let us know what you think all the same – just bear in mind it's little more than a 'sketch,' and should be viewed as such." Inkquest comes from Lionhead Incubation, a department within Lionhead aimed at giving players a better look at the inner workings and incomplete projects of the studio. "We want the community to share in our failures-that-are-not-failures, and so over time we're going to be sharing some of those ideas with you, hopefully evolving into a regular cycle of interesting things for you to see or play," the company wrote in September. [Image: Lionhead]
Lionhead accepting applications for Fable Legends beta
Lionhead and Microsoft have opened up beta registration for Fable Legends, meaning brave heroes ready to join together and save the world of Albion can now take their first steps toward glory. To register for the beta, head over to the Fable Legends website and enter your email address. Confirm it by clicking the appropriate link provided in a follow-up email. Lastly, link your Xbox Live account. It's not clear if those who register are guaranteed entry, but we imagine we'll find out more as we inch closer and closer to October 16, the beta's start date. Fable Legends is a multiplayer-centric entry in the traditionally single-player Fable series, where four players take on the role of customizable heroes while another controls the world's monsters and traps. There has not been a final release date yet announced. [Image: Lionhead]
Fable Legends multiplayer beta set for October [UPDATE: Trailer added!]
The multiplayer beta for Fable Legends will be available on October 16, Microsoft announced during its Gamescom 2014 press conference in Cologne, Germany. Microsoft first announced the beta phase of the game at E3. Fable Legends has players completing quests in Albion, the land featured throughout the series. Unlike past games, up to four players can team up to tackle missions, or players can split off to play as a villain, influencing quests themselves to slow the progress of the heroic group. Microsoft revealed Fable Legends at last year's Gamescom event in August 2013 as an Xbox One-exclusive game. [Image: Microsoft]
Lionhead, EA vets reveal RPG sandbox title, Oort Online
Wonderstruck, a studio largely comprised of ex-Lionhead and ex-EA employees, is toiling away at Oort Online, an open world, voxel-based sandbox RPG that's bound to draw the Minecraft comparison. So what's the deal with this one? The Oort, a race once savvy with exploration, tooled around with a previously-untouched universe, which may or may not have anything to do with their extinction. Their legacy remains, thanks to temples and monuments strewn across Oort's procedurally-generated worlds, which you can brave alone or raid with friends in the name of loot. You'll likely be safer traveling with a group though, because these worlds are home to The Protectors, a five-class race created by The Oort to protect the lands you'll also populate. Titans are king of the Protector species, looming over temples to guard the rarest, shiniest loot. Naturally, it wouldn't hurt to have some of that, so players are free to chase treasures as they wish, claiming land for themselves with beacons, joining guilds, earning experience and crafting weaponry along the way.
Rare and Lionhead remain 'crown jewels' for Microsoft
Microsoft reaffirmed its commitment to its Rare and Lionhead studios this week, assuring that both are "crown jewels" in its Microsoft Studios division as multiple games from the developers continue to take shape. Speaking to Eurogamer, Microsoft corporate vice president Phil Harrison noted that development at Rare continues unabated after a round of layoffs hit the studio last month. "We are very fortunate in having Rare and Lionhead in the UK as crown jewels of Microsoft Studios," Harrison said. "Rare is working on a couple of things at the moment, which we will announce at the right time. But I'm really excited by the things they're doing and I believe you will be as well when you hear about them." Harrison continued: "Rare is an incredible talent and they have some very very ambitious plans for the future and we're supporting them in every way we can." Lionhead, meanwhile, has assembled an eight-person team to tackle a new intellectual property, which will serve as a follow-up to the studio's current project Fable Legends. [Image: Microsoft / Rare]
Fable Legends multiplayer beta coming this fall
Fable Legends, the upcoming multiplayer-centric entry in the Fable series, will enter beta this holiday, Microsoft announced during their E3 2014 press conference. The game will feature multiple modes where players can take on the role of a Fable universe hero or, if you're feeling a bit more antagonistic, villain. As we learned at Gamescom 2013, Legends trades the franchise's hallmark character customization for pre-defined heroes that round out a heroic RPG adventuring party. [Image: Joystiq
Lionhead bringing Fable Anniversary to PC
While Fable Anniversary was previously exclusive to Xbox 360 owners, a clamoring cacophony of Fable fans has apparently persuaded Lionhead and Microsoft to bring the HD remake of the 2004 Xbox game to Steam. When and for how much, however, are tales yet to be told. [Image: Microsoft]
Fable Anniversary lead designer exits Lionhead
Fable Anniversary lead designer Ted Timmins has announced his departure from Lionhead Studios. In a multi-tweet explanation of his exit, Timmins said the Microsoft-owned company has been "such an integral part" of his life. Citing that his time at Lionhead made up more than one third of his life, "it's a good time for change." Timmins' first project with Lionhead was the original Xbox action-role playing game Fable in 2004. Microsoft purchased the studio in 2006. Timmins thanked former Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux for establishing the company that would "give a spotty 18-year-old with no talent or qualifications a chance." "There's also something quite special that Fable 1 was the first game I was a part of, and Fable Anniversary is my last," Timmins wrote. [Image: Lionhead]
Lionhead Studios embracing games-as-service model with Fable Legends
Fable Legends, the upcoming multiplayer-centric spin on the Fable universe, may end up being quite a different beast than its predecessors. Although new Lionhead CEO John Needham hasn't announced any business model for the game, he describes his job as one based around the "games-as-a-service" model: "I think the real magic in the industry now is taking great traditional gameplay and IP, and this new connected world, and mashing them together," Needham recently told Edge Magazine. "I am the person pivoting Lionhead into a games-as-service studio." Needham also said that Legends can act as a platform for additional Fable-related projects. "It's a long-range plan, of five to ten years, where we're going to build and keep building onto Fable Legends. That's the nature of games as a service – you keep adding systems and features and content." [Image: Microsoft Studios]
Deja Review: Fable Anniversary
This is a Deja Review: A quick, unscored look at the new features and relative agelessness of a remade, revived or re-released game. Ten years after hitting the original Xbox, Fable proves that, contrary to popular belief, Peter Molyneux is a man of his word. The eccentric former chief of Lionhead, prone to exclamations about the insane emotional experiences hiding in the games he makes, actually never delivered on dreams of simulating a hero's life in exhaustive detail. No acorns are planted at the beginning, and no mammoth trees sprout in their wake by the time its shaggy dog revenge story comes to a close. All the basics Molyneux promised, however, made it in. In interview after interview during the development of Project Ego – Fable's early code name – he passionately described a role-playing game that would change depending on how it was played, a deeply personal reflection of your choices. Use a sword more than the bow, and your hero will gain better opportunities to build up strength and stamina. Cast lightning on the regular, your hero's flowing locks will turn shock white and arcane sigils will coat his body. Play the bandit, people will fear you; escort the weak through dangerous lands, citizens will cheer when you walk through town. Fable Anniversary, Lionhead's admirably spit-shined remaster, has a surprise for those looking back at Project Ego. It's Albion, not the hero fated to save it from certain doom, that makes Fable worth playing today. How you play about its countryside, not how you build your character's stats, is what reflects and rewards the player.
Fable Anniversary trailer looks back with bloom-colored glasses
' Ten years! Ten years since we got to hear the citizens of Albion yelp in unison as we ran through town holding up a monster's severed head, raising our notoriety as we went. Ten years since we flirted with bar patrons, married them, then scoffed at their criticisms of our new tattoos. This trailer for Fable Anniversary looks back a decade, contrasting the warm colors and aggressive bloom lighting in this HD remake of Lionhead's classic with footage of the original. The facelift looks quite nice, even on a game that's aged well in its original state.
Fable Anniversary goes gold, pre-order bonuses detailed
Fable Anniversary, the HD re-tread of the first game in Lionhead's RPG series, is ready to be pressed to disc, the developer has announced on its blog. In fact, Lionhead writes that physical copies are being created "as we speak." That means that soon, they'll also be ready to be shipped, sold and played. Barring any unfortunate complications or mishaps, we should be ready to explore Albion again on February 4. Lionhead also announced the game's pre-order bonuses: a pirate outfit with sword, a guard outfit with Jackarse fish weapon, and an outfit based on the character Apollo with crossbow. The post didn't yet specify which retailer will be getting which bonus, but it did state that the pre-order bonuses will be made available for purchase "later in the year."
Fable Anniversary set for February 4, 2014
The 1080P HDification of Lionhead's original Fable, known as Fable Anniversary in its evolved state, will arrive on February 4,6 and 7 in North America, Asia and Europe, respectively. The game is planned for Xbox 360. As enticement to revisit Albion and the previous console generation, the game will include a "Launch Day Weapons & Outfits Pack." The highlight in there is "a lute weapon," because next to a keyblade, nothing else could sound more ridiculously glorious.
Fable Legends beta expected next year
Fable Legends, the multiplayer adventure set in Albion and announced at this week's Gamescom show, is scheduled to have a beta test next year. Eurogamer noticed the mention on the game's FAQ page. Fable Legends currently has no release window. Those interested in being the first in the beta line can sign up on the game's website to access future information.
