Lionhead in acquisition talks

By Games Industry.biz Published 10 February, 2006

Microsoft and Ubisoft linked.

Sources close to British developer Lionhead Studios have revealed to GamesIndustry.biz that the company behind Fable and Black & White is in acquisition talks once more, with two key publishers fingered as the likely suitors for the firm.

Platform holder Microsoft and French publisher Ubisoft are said to be the two companies most interested in Lionhead, while a source at Electronic Arts ruled out the possibility that the market leader might be in the running to acquire the studio.

Of the two, Microsoft has the most history with the studio - the software giant published one of Lionhead's most successful titles to date, Fable, and is believed to be working with the firm on a next-generation sequel to the game for Xbox 360.

Credence is also lent to Microsoft's involvement in the deal by the close relationship Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux has enjoyed with the firm and its top executives since the launch of the Xbox, with the well-known designer often appearing to sing the praises of the Xbox platform in public.

However, this isn't the first time that such talks have been entered into by Lionhead, with the most recent round of discussions believed to have taken place between the developer and investment firm Elevation Partners last November in the wake of Elevation's acquisition of North American developers Bioware and Pandemic.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, a spokesperson for the developer refused to comment directly on the report, but confirmed that "Lionhead gets approached with regard to acquisition on a very regular basis and this has been the case since the company was founded 9 years ago."

Earlier this week, Activision announced that it would not be publishing console versions of Lionhead's latest title, The Movies, after the PC version's sales failed to live up to expectations - but the developer, which owns the IP for the title, has indicated that it will continue development both of the console versions and of an expansion pack for the PC version.

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Comments (20) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • bloke #1 6 years ago

    Microsoft

  • afray #2 6 years ago

    Acornsoft

  • Dizzy #3 6 years ago

    Hmmm.. Fable 2....

  • Eldritch #4 6 years ago

    "the software giant published one of Lionhead's most successful titles to date, Fable"

    Any sales figures?

  • MrAtheist #5 6 years ago

    According to microsoft, Fable (xbox version) had sold 1.6 million copies by the time the PC version shipped. I doubt the franchise has done much over 2 million copies (if that).

    I think Black & White sold around 2 million copies also.

  • Eldritch #6 6 years ago

    Thanks!

    /wonders whether MrAtheist plays god games :D

  • Talha #7 6 years ago

    Lionhead - they're not doing too well aren't they? I think they have great concepts but execution is missing. The Movies and B&W 2 are a proof of this. But I don't think the record of small innovative companies being swallowed by giants is an enviable one. Look what MS did to Rare, or EA to Criterion, if Burnout Revenge is anything to go by.

  • Eldritch #8 6 years ago

    Origin, anybody?

  • Markusdragon #9 6 years ago

    Look what MS did to Rare

    I think that's more of a matter of what Rare did to rare.

    Considering the amount of time Rare has been granted to develop it's very small number of games, life under MS probably wouldn't affect Lionhead much. Not to mention that Molyneux would just get up and leave if it went the way of Bullfrog.
    Edited by 1 at 10/02/06 @ 10:22

  • Talha #10 6 years ago

    @Markusdragon : On second thoughts, I tend to agree with you. I am not aware of stifling Rare in any way. They had all the time in the world and then they came up with games that were less than stellar. Really, enough time is the ultimate luxury for a dev.

  • Eldritch #11 6 years ago

    Face it, Pete had his heyday with Bullfrog.

  • kangarootoo #12 6 years ago

    "I think they have great concepts but execution is missing"

    There be the truth.

  • Triggerhappytel #13 6 years ago

    Pooh.

    Another British development house is swallowed by one of the large publishing companies.

    Between some going bust and others being bought, there won't be any small development houses left in a few years' time...

  • Talha #14 6 years ago

    You mean like British automakers? Oh wait, TVR is independent!

  • smoison #15 6 years ago

    With shite like Black&White 1 and 2 and the movies, its no wonder.

    The best of peter died with Bullfrog... who cares whats left, its just pieces of poo

  • MrGrumpy.au #16 6 years ago

    Just a quick question was Bullfrog the company that did the extremely immersive isometric style shooter called "Syndicate" back in the early 90s?

    Or am I thinking of some other British dev?

    TIA

  • smelly #17 6 years ago

    yes they did, and no you arent.

  • MrGrumpy.au #18 6 years ago

    Smelly, thanks for the quick reply.

    Much appreciated.

  • Nige #19 6 years ago

    Utter waste of money. MS will pay vast amounts of cash, the staff will all walk after a few months of doing performance reviews etc. because they don't like the corporate culture. Lionhead plop.

    MS. You NEED GTA, stop trying to be clever and just BUY it.

  • manic_mouse #20 6 years ago

    Hmm, another 2nd party dev for the Xbox? Well it sure needs them, but I'm just wondering what kind of games Lionhead will put out on the Xbox platform. Their main expertise is with God sims and the like, very un-console like games. However I thoroughly enjoyed Fable on the Xbox myself. If it had been longer with a little more substance it could have been the Xbox's Zelda. On the Xbox Lionhead would be forced to be, dare I say it, more innovative and produce much more rounded games. Could be interesting.