This is really surprising to me. It looked bloody good:

Today, I have some difficult changes to announce that affect some of our Microsoft Studios teams and projects in the UK and Denmark.

After much consideration we have decided to cease development on Fable Legends, and are in discussions with employees about the proposed closure of Lionhead Studios in the UK. Additionally, we will close Press Play Studios in Denmark, and sunset development on Project Knoxville.

These have been tough decisions and we have not made them lightly, nor are they a reflection on these development teams – we are incredibly fortunate to have the talent, creativity and commitment of the people at these studios. The Lionhead Studios team has delighted millions of fans with the Fable series over the past decade. Press Play imbued the industry with a unique creative spirit behind games like Max: The Curse of Brotherhood and Kalimba, which both captured passionate fans. These changes are taking effect as Microsoft Studios continues to focus its investment and development on the games and franchises that fans find most exciting and want to play.

I speak for all of Xbox when I say that despite this news, we remain committed to the development communities in the UK and Europe, and Xbox will continue to support new IP and originality in the games we offer on our platforms, whether they’re AAA blockbusters like Quantum Break from Remedy, adventurous new IPs like Sea of Thieves from Rare, or unique new creations from independent developers like Moon Studios with Ori.

We have nothing but heart-felt thanks for the members of Lionhead and Press Play for their contributions to Xbox and gaming. We are committed to working closely with those affected by today’s news to find them new opportunities at Xbox, or partnering with the broader development community to help place them in jobs elsewhere in the games industry should they desire.

http://news.xbox.com/2016/03/07/microsoft-studios-changes-uk-denmark/

Screw that, closing Lionhead is the real news here. For seriously?

I mean, I know they lost their way a bit in the Fable machine, but they're still the remnants of Bullfrog that showed incredible promise between Black & White and The Movies. I had still hoped there was a little bit of the Bullfrog spirit left in the studio.

Aside from that, incredibly sad news for both the employees and the UK gaming industry as a whole. They were a pretty big part of it. Hope they manage to find work soon.

So did Microsoft lose 2 first party studios now? And people already thought they didn't have enough of them. It sucks for the developers though, hopefully they can find another job soon. Microsoft really needs to invest in more studios though.

Whaaat? Wasnt this revealed at the original XB1 reveal event? I thought it came out already.

Wow, this is crazy news. Interesting that they are shutting down 2 European studios. Despite what they say Rare should be worried, and Remedy should be glad they aren't owned by them

Im sad people lost their jobs, fable i dont care for but those poor people 😞

what I find most strange about this is how far along Fable Legends should have been by now.... its been talked about for quite a while.

that said the community response to Fable Legends wasn't that high, the majority of people like Fable for its solo story adventure, not for some strange multiplayer monster fighting or whatever :/

What? Wasn't Fable Legends that MP game that was in the works for a good while now? How did it end up being canceled? It looked like things were going smoothly and was set to release soon in the near future. This is a shocker to me and can't believe they're just canceling it like that. Seems like a real terrible move... : T

What? Why did Lionhead close down? Aside the delay of Fable, I didn't know something was wrong with the studio.

That game had to be finished or was very close to done ether way the game looked garbage