Lionhead Studios

Lionhead Studios is a United Kingdom-based computer game development company led by industry veteran Peter Molyneux, and taken over by Microsoft Game Studios in April 2006.

Lionhead started as a breakaway from the developer Bullfrog, which was also founded by Molyneux, Lionhead's first game was Black & White, a god game with elements of artificial life, strategy, and beat 'em up games. Black and White was published by Electronic Arts in 2001. Lionhead Studios is named after a dead hamster of one of the original members. As they were discussing a name a few minutes before a rep from Electronic Arts arrived, the member went to check on his hamster, Lionhead, who was found dead.

Black and White was followed up with the release of an expansion pack named "Black and White: Creature Isle." Lionhead then released the popular (and controversial) Fable, from satellite developer Big Blue Box. In 2005, Lionhead released The Movies and Black & White 2. On 6 April 2006, it was announced that Lionhead Studios was to be purchased by Microsoft to further bolster their range of Xbox 360 games.

Corporate Structure

For a period of three years, Lionhead set up a network of "satellite" developers, including Big Blue Box Studios (developers of Fable), Intrepid Games (developers of B.C., since suspended due to a massive overrun) and Black & White Studios (who have taken responsibility for the continuation of the Black & White series). Lionhead proper is working on two games, The Movies (a sims-like game based upon the premise of running your own Movie Studio) and Dimitri, a simulation game of some sort (about which Lionhead is being unusually tight-lipped).

However, during an interview with Computer and Video Games, on April 6th, 2005, Peter Molyneux revealed that "is a game about (pause for dramatic drum roll) ...you. It allows anyone who plays the game to relive their life, their entire individual life. That's a pretty ambitious concept." While our ^* jaw dropped to the floor, Lionhead PR hastily intervened with the effect of a virtual gagging order.

This "satellite" system has ceased to exist in any meaningful form since mid-2004, however, with Big Blue Box having been more or less integrated into the main company, and Intrepid essentially having been disbanded. The company still maintains separate studios, but they are all now on one site in the Surrey Research Park.

Lionhead was a privately held company until October 2004 (shortly before the suspension of BC) when a consortium of investors, including Ingenious Ventures, IDG VE and technology firm Add Partners, made a significant investment into the developer. This at a time when the company was in severe financial straits, as they had over-run development on two projects, Black and White 2 and Fable, and also cancelled B.C. and a project with Jeff Minter named Unity.

However, since September 2005 Lionhead have successfully released two AAA titles, Black and White 2 and The Movies, as well as an updated version of Fable (entitled Fable: The Lost Chapters). To date, these titles have not achieved a massive impact in sales, and this left the company vulnerable to a takeover bid. They have no confirmed new titles with publishers at this time, only expansion packs.

In April 2006 Lionhead Studios was acquired by Microsoft. Lionhead will be the part of Microsoft Game Studios, which also includes Rare Ltd. and Bungie Studios.

Overpromising Controversy

Lionhead, and Molyneux in particular, is notorious for "hyping" their games to an uncommon degree, often resulting in disappointment from those who have followed the game's development. This was very much the case after the release of Black and White, but even more so after the launch of Fable, and to varying degrees after the release of Black and White 2 which (in a post-install "letter" from Peter Molyneux) claims to "make you feel like a god" and "the game ^* build up to a climax which is truly epic". After the official forums were flooded with complaints, Molyneux made a rare appearance on the forums, where he made a "mea culpa" speech of dubious sincerity. In this post he claimed to have had no idea that claims about the content of Fable early in the development cycle were unrealistic, and committed himself to revealing games only much later in the development cycle. Such a commitment missed the point with stunning grace, but the acknowledgement of mistakes was nevertheless appreciated by those who had raised an eyebrow at the gulf between what had been claimed and that which had been delivered.

Delays

Lionhead seems to get in more public trouble for their delayed games, in part due to the hype that Peter Molyneux, the lead designer, gives these titles, namely Fable. Various reports on this indicate a company tendency to re-design games mid-development and a tendency toward over-ambition, though few reports are official. The company is also always on the cutting edge of developing new technology, which adds considerably to their development schedules.

Critical Reception

Lionhead have also acquired a love-hate relationship with its audience and the media. While game reviewers tend to be pre-disposed to giving their games high scores, fan communities tend to accuse the company's games of being all idea and no depth. Fable is the key example of this. Numerous magazines and online sources hailed the game, while other gamers looked at it with disappointment ^*. While the game had many innovative concepts contained within it, such as a morpheable player character, a morality system and the ability to interact with townsfolk, get married etc, a common reaction among players was to feel that none of these concepts really affected each other or added up to a complete game; that, or various concepts were already used in other games.

Likewise Black and White 2 has been critized as missing the mark.

However, The Movies has proved popular and reviews of the game have been very positive.

Games

Released

In development

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