Microsoft Buys Lionhead Studios 73
Grench writes "The BBC has an article on Microsoft's purchase of Lionhead Studios. They focus in particular on Peter Molyneux, and the kind of talents and expertise that he can bring to Microsoft's future gaming efforts. A sequel to Fable was mentioned as a probable endeavor." From the article: "Some of the giants of the games industry, such as Electronic Arts and Ubisoft, were reported to have been interested in acquiring Lionhead. But Microsoft has emerged as the victor, adding the studio to its roster of British gaming talent. In 2002, it acquired developers Rare in a $375m deal."
Re:I bet you below and above me right now... (Score:1, Offtopic)
EA was never realistic (Score:3, Interesting)
That said, it'll be interesting to see if it's any easier at Microsoft. They make pains to say they won't be excercising creative control, but another 2 failiures like B+W2 and the movies and you wonder how long that will survive.
Re:EA was never realistic (Score:2)
Re:EA was never realistic (Score:2)
Re:EA was never realistic (Score:2, Interesting)
It's really quite an interesting title; I'm yet to play it myself, but it's just the sort of innovative game I'd expect from someone like Peter. Not sure why it hasn't sold all that well. Shame.
Re:EA was never realistic (Score:2)
I like the guy's ide
Re:EA was never realistic (Score:2)
The movie making tools are
Re:EA was never realistic (Score:1)
It's rather a shame that they felt the need to tack a game onto it. There is a fairly substantial market for lifestyle products. Sony has Sony DJ that simulates mixing decks. No game. Just the music. There were a lot of art and animation packages on the Amiga that were a lot of fun to play with, if a little time consuming to get anything worthwhile from. But making movies is a lot of fun.
Re:"/." fans were never realistic (Score:2)
I liked Fable, I love everything he did with Bullfrog.
But I'm talking brutal commercial reality here. \. isn't exactly representative because every topic about Lionhead becomes "cut and paste microsoft gags with lionhead inserted".
Ask Oddworld (Score:2)
It didn't, perhaps not surprising since he had pissed off most of the Oddworld fan base. So Microsoft dumped them. Now they're making FPS games for EA ("Stranger's Wrath").
Re:Ask Oddworld (Score:2)
I agree though it's good evidence. It didn't work at EA either, they've actually pulled out of games now.
Re:Britian's Silicon Valley. (Score:1)
Re:Britian's Silicon Valley. (Score:2)
Re:Britian's Silicon Valley. (Score:3, Insightful)
The reason if anything is that while America had a tendancy to buy NES in the 1980s, the british were a lot more keen on programmable computers. The NES sold well, the Master system much better, but they were all blown int
Re:Britian's Silicon Valley. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Britian's Silicon Valley. (Score:2)
I think some areas in Texas would better qualify.
Aha! (Score:4, Funny)
Put some of that Black and White experience to use (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Put some of that Black and White experience to (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Put some of that Black and White experience to (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Put some of that Black and White experience to (Score:2)
Re:Put some of that Black and White experience to (Score:2)
lionhead (Score:2)
There goes another good game co to hell... (Score:4, Insightful)
Then MS came... well, all I can say is go look for games that have the Bungie Studio's logo somewhere on the game now... They are most definitly NOT the only one this happened to. I firmely believe that MS does not have the corporate presence and structuring that is needed to actually produce good games. I personally believe they shreded the Mechwarrior series. Mechwarrior 2 is still the best in my opinion. But do you want to know why? It is because Activision at least gave a HUGE selection of mechs and weapons. There were more different mechs in Mechwarrior2+GhostBear Expansion then in ALL the later games in the series COMBINED. Part of the whole idea in that game is that you really DON'T know all the different mechs that might be feilded against you. That you don't know the weakness of everybody, or their strengths until you get smacked hard by something that surprised the crap out of you...
Re:There goes another good game co to hell... (Score:2)
Re:There goes another good game co to hell... (Score:2)
now, aoe and aoe2 were one of best rts games i've seen. aoe3 was crap.
not that they are the only ones, lately there are less and less interesting games. oldschool games like simon the sorcerer or larry are bastardised by 3d. great fun series like carmageddon ar fscked up (carmageddon 3 sucked badly).
lately i'm checking out games for linux - scorched3d, wesnoth, liquidwar. games that are fun to play, even though th
Re:There goes another good game co to hell... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:There goes another good game co to hell... (Score:5, Interesting)
Having lived through the Microsoft buyout of a game studio, perhaps I provide some insight into why acquired studios seem to lose their mojo. Disclaimer: This are my opinions only, and come from the individual contributior perspective, not that of the studio management.
First off, Microsoft corporate culture does not map well to a typical successful game studio, and no matter what assurances are given that the studio's culture and operations are going to be left intact, within a couple years the studio becomes fully integrated into the 'Microsoft Way'.
Probably most destructive are the Microsft one-size fits all HR policies such as stack ranking. Game development is truly a team effort, and successful studios have managed to create teams where most of the performers are above average. Instead of being able to reward people fairly, a pre-determined number of people each year have to be given a "poor" review which includes no compensation increases of any sort, and the warning that if they fail to improve by next year, they will be on the list of people to be 'managed out'. On the other end, a smaller pre-determined number of people will be rewarded handsomly no matter if they have not produced anything to merit such. So a culture of teamwork, focus on the product,and pride in the company will quickly morph into a culture of individual self-promotion, politicts and backstabbing, and a disdain for the company.
Additionally, as part of Microsoft, the studio no longer has the urgency to make the next game great and complete it in a timely manner. With Microsoft's billions insuring financial stability if a game is cancelled, and no direct financial upside to producing a hit game, the pressure of living close to the edge that was present in the old culture that helped the team focus is supplanted by a devil may care attiude that creeps into the 'rank and file'.
As a result, many of the developers tranform from passionate, competitive people who strive for excellence into someone who just 'does their job' and goes home at 6pm sharp. Others just leave for greener pastures. Management gets thier large bonuses in any event.
There are other issues of course, such as loss of control over future projects, headcount restrictions that prevent a studio from hiring desperatly needed people, and so on.
Re:There goes another good game co to hell... (Score:2)
You could say a lot more. The games Bungie is making are still extremely good. The problem isn't that quality has diminished, it has not. It's that the have become Xbox-oriented.
Re:There goes another good game co to hell... (Score:1)
The Halo series is one of the leading products on the XBox.
Re:There goes another good game co to hell... (Score:2)
I'm confused. Haven't you played Halo2? Wasn't that developed by Bungie while under Microsoft? That's one of the best games ever made.
Re:There goes another good game co to hell... (Score:1)
Not suprized (Score:2, Interesting)
I really wish that MS can give Pete the time to let some of his ideas come to fruition...I really was dissapointed when some of thefeatures i really wanted in Fable got cut. ( i.e. raising a family, multiplayer) I'm hoping we'll get a Fable sequel (mabey prequel?) that delivers all the promises of Fable 1 that didn't happen.
From the article... (Score:3, Insightful)
Isn't Molyneaux's whole problem that he gets all of these wild ideas and then fails to actually execute them? In which case is he really pushing boundaries, or just being mediocre?
Re:From the article... (Score:4, Insightful)
But then maybe he's just the right guy to balance a company who rarely have any wilds ideas, but often suceeed in executing them?
Bill Gates (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Bill Gates (Score:2)
So it is not like there is some significant change in how Lionhead does buisness.
But, I do agree with you, console exclusive games are annoying. But don't worry, Sony will compete the same way (that is why all the GTA games come out on Playstation 2 years before they are released for other plat
Don't worry?! (Score:2)
Goodbye Fable (Score:1)
So much for the Heroes Guild and those funny talking doors...
Re:Goodbye Fable (Score:2)
Okay, maybe B&W sold fairly well due to all the hype, and Fable was a decent game for kids, but in my opinion Peter Monyneaux gets too much credit, and the games he works on are just mediocre. It doesn't really matter who publishes them.
Re:Goodbye Fable (Score:1)
Re:Goodbye Fable (Score:1)
Slightly OT:
How many more big-name EA-acquired studio designers are left for Microsoft to steal away? From Origin they got Chris Roberts (Wing Commander -> Starlancer/Freelancer), From Bullfrog/Lionhead they have Peter Molyneaux. I can think of two more big names (although I don't know if they'd go): Maxis' Will Wright and Origin's Richard Garri
Re:Goodbye Fable (Score:2)
Populous
Powermonger
Theme Park
Syndicate
Magic Carpet
Dungeon Keeper
Great stuff and games I highly enjoyed. I guess the only reason I pay attention to him is in hoping that he'll hit paydirt again. Who knows if he will. Of course the same could be said for my
total creative control (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:total creative control (Score:1)
What I got instead was a short, linear game with repetitive enemies and unoriginal story. What really irked my friends and I was the fact that the game forced you to be a warrior that could also use magic and a bow, instead of being only a wizard or archer. After that my friends and I decided to black list any future games that were
oh no!! (Score:1)
Re:oh no!! (Score:2)
And they did relase Rise of Nations which is IMHO one of the best RTS games of all time.
RIP Lionhead (Score:3, Insightful)
Of course, what M$ wants - what M$ needs - are a few killer games that are Xbox-exclusive. Probably half of the original xbox sales were thanks to Halo. With the PS3 rapidly approaching, the 360 will lose a lot of market share if there aren't any great exclusive games, and quickly.
Resistance is FUBAR! (Score:1)
hopefully (Score:1)
Farewell Lionheart (Score:1)
(Ofcourse everyone who followed you like me, knew/feared this would eventually happen with the xbox exclusives and Microsofts determination to buy innovation instead of innovating themselves, I'm not sure what would have been worse EA or Microso
so much for Linux (Score:3, Insightful)
Farewell (Score:1)
My prediction for one year from now... (Score:2)
Molyneux tends to make games that are very high concept and that often have a more niche fanbase then say, a Project Gotham or Halo type game. Microsoft is probably not the best fit as a publisher for them. I suspect that whoever holds the purse strings will end up demanding certain changes in a given title, or that Molyneux will end up wanting to delay a game to get it perf
RIP blah blah blah. (Score:5, Insightful)
Bungie made Halo by a long long way the most succesful game they ever created.
Digital Anvil made freelancer the most succesful game they ever created.
Ensemble Studios made Age of Empires the most succesful game they ever created. (I hope your noting the pattern here)
FASA made Crimson Skies the most succesful game they ever created.
Rare remain the only studio that hasnt prospered quite as much as theyd hoped though with Perfect Dark and Kameo. Hardly a bad start.
(and lets not have 'Bungie made Halo for PC!' crap. Thats not the point, MS not killing off the studio, is.)
Lionhead was going down. You had either EA, Ubisoft or Microsoft. So which do you want? EA who has bought and dissolved countless companies with no regard for there worth? Ubisoft who have recently taken a liking to absurd protection methods. Or Microsoft who buy up companies to use there names and ideas exclusively? Its not exactly a clear cut 'MS are teh evil' situation.
I know to a lot of people they're the big evil corporation but seriously take a step back and look around for two seconds. You really think the other publishers are better? In fact take a look at the other studios MS owns, you really think Lionhead is gone now?
Im not saying bad things arnt going to happen to molyneux's baby but MS, in this case, is arguably there best option. (With Ubisoft coming a close second. Lets not even suggest the Bullfrog destroying EA.) Heck, Id even go so far as to say they stand a chance of releasing some pretty solid stuff.
A little less of the incessant farewell, RIP, crap and perhaps a little more perspective on what is going on.
Re:RIP blah blah blah. (Score:2)
Moot point. Bungie had created the Halo concept and game engine before MS took them. One should ask.. what has Bungie produced since their acquisition by MS. Oh yeah, Halo2. and soon to be Halo3.
MS took a creative game company and turned it into a digital factory.
Re:RIP blah blah blah. (Score:2)
Bungie has made pretty much nothing other than Halo type games. Pathways in to Darkness, Marathon, Marathon 2 and Marathon Infinity leading up in to Halo are all essentially progressions of the previous game. They even have similar worlds and themes running through them.
With the exception of myth (Which, because Take2 already owned 20% of Bungie before MS got there, went to them. As in MS cant continue that series.) and Oni (Which was released w
Re:RIP blah blah blah. (Score:1)
The team that made High Road to Revenge was dissolved, with the employees laid off.