860°

Here's what Phil Spencer said about Fable Legends & Lionhead last week

GamesRadar "Now, while it probably wasn't a surprise for Xbox boss Phil Spencer, he was clearly not giving anything away at last week's Xbox Spring Showcase when we asked how Fable Legends was going, and if we'd ever see another numbered Fable?"

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gamesradar.com
dirigiblebill3004d ago

"All quiet on the western front"

nX3004d ago

"The thing around Legends that I'm committed to is I want to make sure its release matches the expectations"

I guess people weren't expecting it to release? Unbelieveable that he said that just a few days ago.

OC_MurphysLaw3004d ago

Not really unbelievable at all. What did you expect him to say? "OK you got me, Lionhead really has crapped the bed on this one and we are thinking of shutting down studio?" Any executive is going to say something similar to what Phil said in a similar situation.

4Sh0w3004d ago

Yeah nothing he said was wrong, in fact he alluded to the game needing to meet quality expectations for release, so it seems something didn't pan out, although from my point of view the game looked great...beta impressions were very positive too.

Eonjay3004d ago

That high level PR speak. Normal people would have said
"We will have more details soon"
or
"yeah, it being cancelled"

OC_MurphysLaw3004d ago

@Eonjay in no way shape or form would he have said "its being cancelled" at press event prior to them actually telling the studio and personnel themselves that the game and studio was being shut down.

TheCommentator3004d ago (Edited 3004d ago )

Hey Nix, "...in terms of quality..." is the part of the sentence right after your partial quote. Not sure how you could have missed it, really. Clearly, expectations references the quality of the title, not whether or not it releases. Is there any particular reason for you to misconstrue the meaning of Phil's statement by omitting crucial parts of the sentence?

Edit: Just saw earlier news about the official closing of Lionhead and cancellation of Fable Legends, so your post makes more sense now. I apologize, but this article was rather vague in covering that part of the story and made it appear as if the title was still being worked on. Your context makes a lot more sense now.

starrman19853004d ago

You realise in this respect he isn't just a "normal person" right? This is a huge deal and a massive shock to the Fable team, if he said no comment and the guys at Lionhead saw that it would be so much worse for him and them.

This really sucks for all the team who have been working on this years. The hard truth is I don't think it would have delivered, it was already free to play and sadly Lionhead has been slipping for some time now, they just had to make the hard decision to end it before anymore money was spent.

Magnes3003d ago

@Dlacy13g how about the truth MS just proves to me over and over that they are not to be trusted. As an Xb1 owner I'm left shaking my head more than I'd like lately.

hells_supernova3003d ago

I agree he should of been honest and at least said something more along the lines of.

"We will have some news about Lionhead Studio and Fable legends in the coming weeks."

S2Killinit3003d ago (Edited 3003d ago )

a very politician-like answer. He said the truth but not the whole truth.

Griever3003d ago (Edited 3003d ago )

Baffling; I cant believe how much MS executives lie to your face only to be exposed later. And gullible fanboys really believe whatever they say. Just last week fanboys were using his clarification to argue that if Spencer says Windows 10 will be open then it will be open platform. Darth72 was especially eager to prove me wrong even though I was talking about upgradeable consoles.

You guys see now how much weight Spencer's words actually have and if they really mean anything Darth72? Just last week he says he is committed to releasing this game and this week it is cancelled. Mind blowing. Can we trust him that Windows 10 platform will be open or there will be another Xbox? Or they are releasing upgradeable consoles for the benefit of the consumer?

His word has no value whatsoever. It is as if he has no idea of and power over what actually goes on in the company and is just a PR guy OR that he is a really big liar.

gangsta_red3003d ago (Edited 3003d ago )

@Griever

"Just last week he says he is committed to releasing this game and this week it is cancelled."

You seriously need to re-read the quote of what Phil said he was committed too.

"it's been in beta for a while, and we're watching the engagement numbers. The thing around Legends that I'm committed to is I want to make sure its release matches the expectations in terms of quality that our customers deserve. So it's not about releasing something because it's on a poster, because there was a date posted somewhere."

Unless you have a different quote that you are referring to and like to share that with us here.

Griever, we know you like to associate everything that is wrong in your own opinion with video games today with MS. But every company shuts down studios or cancels projects, do you really expect these companies to tell us, the public the inner workings of what goes on and why?

Would that even satisfy you with your extreme view that MS is some evil corporation out to rule the world through Xbox?

Stop associating your own bias and your soap box grand standing with every bit of news that comes out for MS.

There's no easy way for any person in power to handle a situation when and where people lose their jobs or their project is canceled and it's certainly not for the general public to know beforehand.

Bigpappy3003d ago

What he said is being either spinNed or misinterpreted. He said he would like it to meet expectations, but apparently it is not meeting his expectations so he decided that the studio is not delivering and decided to shut the whole thing down. If the game was released as a turd, the critics would be even more harsh. Gess there is just no way for him to win around these parts.

3003d ago
rainslacker3003d ago

I'd say chances are he knew it was a possibility, but chances are also high there was no definitive answer to if MS was going to drop the project, and potentially LH.

Given that, what he said seemed to imply that it could be a quality issue, and possibly it just wasn't up to standards, and he was still under the impression he would be able to get it up to those standards.

I don't think the dev went out to deceive anyone, he probably just wasn't 100% sure, so it would be premature for him to state something which may not come to pass, as it would cause more problems.

IGiveHugs2NakedWomen3003d ago

Good ole Phil. Keeping those Microsoft suits happy.

Why o why3003d ago (Edited 3003d ago )

An awkward situation for any pr guy to deal with to be honest. He couldn't win here...damned if he did, damned if he didn't

bouzebbal3003d ago

PR garbage at its best..
I remember he said that gears of war licence became irrelevant. A few weeks later they buy the licence and it became relevant all of a sudden..

Wallstreet373003d ago

Lets just remember he doesn't get to pick and choose what he says in relation to these things, like almost everything else everything is discussed and agreed upon by a Board or people who specialize in PR talk. Its like when ppl praise him for turning around Xbox lol he didnt turn nothing around, that was decided after the initial slaughtering and Board meetings where many people had a say in the direction that Xbox "had" to go in order to salvage itself or burn.

Yetter3003d ago

I've had beta access to that game for about 6 months, I've played it about 3 times and have little or no desire to play it again. The game wasn't good, it wasn't going to anyones expectations

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Zeref3004d ago Show
3004d ago Replies(5)
showtimefolks3003d ago

phil spencer has created a good image for himself but now his armor is starting to show cracks

badz1493003d ago

can't blame the guy though. I think the higher ups have something else in their plan for Phil's division and he has little to no say about it.

I have no doubt he's genuinely a gamer at heart and is working his hardest to steer the Xbox brand in the right direction but it's now looking like he's losing his grip over what he visions the Xbox brand would be because it differs to what the bosses want it to be.

Xbox division has been bleeding money from the get go but the higher ups are looking at a particular part of it that continues to make money which is the XBL! that's why they are now looking like they are phasing out the hardware but trying to preserve XBL on Windows where their money is made!

PhucSeeker3003d ago

What the hell is with the him being a good guy or bad guy ? He's the head of Xbox, of course he gon say PR stuffs, he doesn't want to lose his job by saying what he's not supported to.

showtimefolks3003d ago

badz149

I agree with you 1000000000%

i think he is being pressured into making some decisions that he otherwise wouldn't have made. When the new CEO for MS took over there were rumors that investors wanted xbox brand to be sold off

i am not saying that will happen but i think MS will focus more on PC moving forward. I don't think high ups really understand that if they actually give phil a chance he can make xbox a huge brand and make it more profitable

but i think the last 2 people who ran xbox brand just gave it such a bad image and PR that now phil is having to deal with the after affects

UltraNova3003d ago

@show &badz149

I want to agree with you guys but I'm a firm believer that if you are forbidden from materializing your personal goals no matter how pure and good-intended you are and you are forced to violate your work ethics then you should step down and retain your dignity and respect towards your fans/supporters.

If Phil wants to do good by us and the xbox in general and MS higher ups resist or force him to grant their corporate needs then he needs to step down.

Phil will be judged when his time comes, for now lets see how all this plays out.

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StifflerK3004d ago

I feel bad for the devs, looks like the cancellation came right out of nowhere.
Which is a shame - the game looked good, and without Lionhead we'll probably never see another Fable.

RiseofScorpio3004d ago

Oh cmon, it was in beta forever they clearly weren't meeting deadlines.

Magnes3003d ago (Edited 3003d ago )

Lionhead never had any problem cranking up the games before so all of a sudden a solid dependable developer just forgets how to make deadlines,that what you want me to believe?

Overload3004d ago (Edited 3004d ago )

Like I said before, Phil Spencer says alot of things.

I'm not sure he knows what committed even means.

You can't pledge commitment towards something and then cancel it next week. Just like you can't deepen your commitment to Xbox One by sending all your games to Windows.

Gazondaily3004d ago

Huh?

He said this:
"
So it's not about releasing something because it's on a poster, because there was a date posted somewhere." Or, as it turns out, releasing it all."

Read the last bit.

Overload3004d ago (Edited 3004d ago )

At least take the whole quote.

"He continues to say, "it's been in beta for a while, and we're watching the engagement numbers. The thing around Legends that I'm committed to is I want to make sure its release matches the expectations in terms of quality that our customers deserve."

Being committed to make sure it's a quality release and then cancelling the project and axing the developers next week, is not commitment.

nX3004d ago

You only read what you want to read, huh?

4Sh0w3004d ago (Edited 3004d ago )

Well he did say he wanted:
"to make sure its release matches the expectations in terms of quality that our customers deserve." 

-that's hardly saying "YES it's going great, it will release soon"= No he didn't say that did he? Although the game looked fantastic its quite possible there were some underlying issues and perhaps financial issues as well, who knows?

I'm as upset as any about this news but unless you know what happened behind the scenes complete with the financial situation then you're just trolling, sad because when Sony closes a studio myself & most gamers regardless of preference just wish those employees who are affected well, when it's Microsoft then it's a bunch of fanboy BS, weird how that works, but karma says what goes around comes around so I'll just keep wishing everyone the best.

Eonjay3004d ago

No one in their right mind would interpret that to mean that the game is being cancelled next week and the staff will be laid off. And seeing the Reactions from Lionhead studios, they didn't interpret his answer to mean that either.

Death3004d ago

Obviously no one thought the statements made last week indicated the game would be cancelled. We can see in hindsight that it wasn't praise for the game either since reading it after the announced closure it seems pretty clear things weren't going as well as they wanted. Phil's reply was clearly deflection since they weren't sure or weren't ready to make the decision or announcement.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 3004d ago
gangsta_red3004d ago

"Committed to make sure it's a quality release and then cancelling the project and axing the developers next week."

Well couldn't that mean that Fable Legends didn't live up to what Phil's commitment? Maybe the quality wasn't there and that is why it was cancelled.

This game was in development for a long time. Almost since the the beginning of Xbox One. Sad to see a studio close and a game cancelled but there must have been some huge problems with development.

Christopher3004d ago

If it wasn't a problem with development, remember, this is a business. There could be problems with just it being something profitable. The game itself already has competitors out there, including Neverwinter on the XBO itself (which is F2P in design just like Fables was going to be).

I don't discount Phil for doing his job, but this is why you have to take certain things from everyone with a grain of salt. They're not going to pull the plug or say anything negative about a project until that decision is made to pull the plug. Sony wasn't saying Vita TV was dead until it was (heck, even then, they just kinda killed it without saying anything). Zune wasn't dead until it was. This is business and this is why PR comments are just that. At any time, something we just don't see can change the reality and that's how it works.

gangsta_red3004d ago

"There could be problems with just it being something profitable."

I completely agree with this. When I first heard the game was F2P I even wondered to myself how the heck where they going to pull this off. Didn't see much interest in the game to begin with (at least with me) and then asking people to stick with it and then support it through a F2P model just seemed odd to me.

gangsta_red3003d ago (Edited 3003d ago )

@Dash Arrivals... i mean any other random person on this site,

"sometimes you just have to call things what they are..."

No matter how stupid or ill-informed it might be? No thanks, I try not to just rant about things that happen ALL the time in the business world.

"Speak up. Don't tow the company line on every damn thing. Let your voice be heard."

You're right! How dare they cancel a game that I had very little to no interest in. Phil lied to me and didn't tell me ahead of time that they were cancelling this game! How dare Phil not tell me before his actual employees who actually work for MS.

"This is another strange and prick move by MS."

So is it also a strange and prick move when Sony shuts down BIG blue Studio, Studio Liverpool, or took All Stars away from Superbot or when they sold off SOE? How about the many studios EA, Activision and Zynga close down what seems like everyday. How about the many studios and companies that are shut down in life!

"They should have just taken the 'hit' and released this game and continued to support it, for the good of the gamer."

Awesome business sense 101 you have there. Release a F2P game that has no interest, no support and absolutly zero anticipation and just take the "hit" for the good of the gamer...even though hardly any gamer would play this game.

Any other inside "on your way to make your first million" business knowledge you want to share Dash?

gangsta_red3003d ago Show
agame9143003d ago

So that means fire the whole team?

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 3003d ago
dkp233004d ago

commitment is as strong as potential financial strength the game has. This game didn't. I don't think the game had a lot of consistent active users based on the long wait times. This is a mobile game on a console. Not really a good idea and ms fin ally realized it.

Fable legends from the get go was t a good idea imo

TwoForce3004d ago (Edited 3004d ago )

Oh god ! This is just "sign". I don't really like this.

AizenSosuke3004d ago

Same the signs are pointing to something that I don't like.

sprinterboy3004d ago ShowReplies(2)
Show all comments (129)
250°

Neil Druckmann clarifies true intent of new Naughty Dog game comments

Following a recent interview with Sony, Naughty Dog head Neil Druckmann claims the original intent was “unfortunately lost” in the process.

just_looken2d ago

He can take dog shit put it in a oven with seasoning then call it waistland cookies the sony fans will pay $40 a cookie give them a medal of cooking.

No mater what trash this sobs puts out/talks about it will sell.

The true fact in the 8 years sense uncharted 4 his first time in the main seat to a point all this "amazing" team did was get 2 dudes to fuck in a van then destroy a franchise they never created.

But being a port studio they are decent at they should keep in there lane at being just that a glorified port studio.

fr0sty2d ago

Salty Bots... gotta love it.

just_looken2d ago

@frosty

Over what? naught dog under his command is a glorified port team tlou2 was mostly tlou 1 asset's with the same game play loop but forced a trans down your throat.

I would gladly help pay for this blight and his team to get removed from gaming in general.

fr0sty2d ago

Seeing a LGBT person exist in a work of fiction isn't "forcing them down your throat". Nobody is forcing you to play it. Nobody is forcing you to agree with it. If you think that just seeing a LGBT person exist is "force", it sounds like they make you very uncomfortable, and maybe you need to be doing some serious reflecting on exactly why... looks to me like you're suppressing something with all that fear.

just_looken2d ago

@fro

When i think of the last of us i think of a group of survivors crossing the apocalypse wasteland with a growing bond between 2 people that end up with Joel making ellie his new daughter.

Then you fire up the 2nd one bang joel is dead oh that comic series? bang dead

Oh you want to continue all that we grew in the first one? na f that toss it in the trash

Now here is a trans woman so strong superboy would blush go out there kill all what made tlou1 then halfway get a forced sex scene that you can not skip between 2 dudes.

The gameplay? just like the first game the combat/backpack system crafting sytem? 0 changes/improvements.

I could go on but lets face it they copy pasted that tlou 1 assets bin a shit ton of times.

There is nothing on the box or the ads or anything before the game that said you would going to spend most of the game controlling a new trans character that has no ties to anything of the first game the only existence was to kill what the first game made.

Oh but hey there is a mp mode coming out before 2022 wait what is that? oh we made it its own game then cancelled it now go but the game again as we port it a few times.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

mkis0072d ago (Edited 2d ago )

What has Straley or Henig released since they left ND? Not a thing! stop scapegoating! Which of them is credited with co-writing a majorly successful show?

just_looken2d ago

@mkis007

You bring up Bruce Straley really? someone that gave us 4 generations of amazing games and was there in the creation of 4 legendary franchises but was tossed in the trash for the pos niel druckmann not 7? years ago

So yeah in those 7? years you right all he has done is get 2 awards one is a game award for a puzzle game he made oh boy right like for fuck sake's all niel has done is one game that was a overhyped fan boy orgasm underneath all that ps jizz was just a typical 5/10 game.

Then you drag Amy Hennig that poor woman was also kicked out then became this century's Brendan Fraser with her sexual misconduct information coming out.

We all know how horrible people are treated behind the scenes she might have been sexual attacked groped or something.

So yeah all she did after was battlefield hardline forspoken now that new marvel 1945 game but hey Brendan Fraser was a great actor till he also said he was sexually attacked just now he is allowed back in no doubt she also had to take a leave of absence out and or was forced out on ice.

Man there are way to many out there that look at niel at the new gaming jesus when all he had done is some work on uncharted 4 then tlou2

Oh also the tvhshow? for real all they did was use stuff from the 2013 game its like saying GOT was a 10/10 but never watching past season 3

-Foxtrot2d ago

@mkis007

That's highly unfair to them both

Amy Hennig got messed around working on projects that got cancelled by the publishers (EA) and then ended up on a awful game (Forspoken) where you had 4 other writers working on it which is just a recipe for disaster. She is now working on Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra. Not her fault she was pushed out of NaughtyDog, something both Nolan North and Richard McGonagle have both said in interviews.

Bruce Straley left after burn out, the rest of the story we don't know and will never know just like what happened with Amy Hennig. He decided to take a break and wasn't sure if he wanted to come back to gaming however he had an idea he wanted to make so he founded Wildflower Interactive, a smaller studio where they are currently working on a new game.

Tacoboto2d ago

@the obvious stain of a commenter

The trans character wasn't Abby. Try playing Part 2 instead of gatekeeping what you think Part 1 was about and meant.

Maybe try watching the show while you're at it, because you're terribly off with your opinion on that too

MajorLazer2d ago

Naughty Dog is better than all the MS studios put together.

derek2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

@just he has been behind 2 of the greatest games ever made. Tlou2 was easily the best non-vr game made last gen. Losers just can't get over Joel's death, mixed with the usual console war nonsense. The fact that you so casually call him a sob shows how deranged some gamers have become about Drunkmann.

derek2d ago

@frosty, for people like Just, including anyone that can be categorized as being a minority in any kind of media is "forcing it down his throat " lol. I to don't care for poor "checking box" inclusion for inclusion sake but that was not the case with tlou2.

fr0sty2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

The pathetic part about it is, you can tell just_looken never even played TLOU, because that was the game where Ellie's sexuality was first brought to light... No "that was forced down our throats" to be said about that.

Only terrified folks in the closet that use their hatred as cover from outing themselves fear LGBT people that much. They exist. They will exist in all aspects of life, including popular media. Get over it.

just_looken1d 19h ago

@all

Once again you drag out something like its a big win

Here is my old channel a clip of me playing TLOU on ps3
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Search my channel for more clips

Proof its my channel? look at this profiles banner that is 7yrs old then look at other vids on that channel like my bf3 clips to see my psn id. But knowing this group that is way to much work.

Also elle being a lesbian is another trump card? one dlc is all we got of that a dlc that took over a year to be tossed out.

Rainbowcookie1d 17h ago

Hey at least we have cookies to eat 😄

+ Show (12) more repliesLast reply 1d 17h ago
Rangerman12083d ago

Glad he clarified it but i'm still somewhat skeptical. Plus, his comments about how Ai will revolutionize storytelling were still pretty iffy.

anast3d ago

No need to bow down, Stan your ground. The AI comments were gross though.

S2Killinit3d ago

Pretty excited as I read these. I just cant wait to see what ND is up to.

Export2d ago

put a chick in it and make her gay !

shadowknight2032d ago

Next they need a diverse couple, and perhaps some climate activists

StormSnooper2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I would love that if only to piss off all the lunatics. Lol

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170°

Naughty Dog Boss Neil Druckmann Says AI Will 'Revolutionize' Development

Druckmann claims the tech could 'push the boundaries of storytelling in games.'

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gamedeveloper.com
Jin_Sakai4d ago

I’m more interested in what else he said.

“Neil Druckmann says new Naughty Dog title could ‘redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming’

4d ago Replies(6)
H94d ago

It will be something like "we erased gameplay all together it's just a movie now"

purple1014d ago

every time naughty dog make a game, you play it and get the feeling "this is not possible'

from the boulder running towards you in crash, on ps1,
to the massive open world of jak and daxter, on ps2,
to the QuickTime events sequences of uncharted on ps3/4

and now we will see what they do with ps5,

H94d ago

Press X for doubt at "PS5"

-Foxtrot4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

Arrogant asshole who sniffs his own farts bigs up next game…sounds like typical PR to me

You know what I find interesting? Almost every site reporting this as the main title where the REAL interesting bit of the interview is Neil praising AI and saying it will be used to help push story, characters, dialogue and more.

It’s super shitty to big up AI especially when it comes to story telling and other creative elements.

senorfartcushion4d ago

Just because someone says this type of stuff, it doesn't mean that it's guaranteed to be good news.

You can say this about microtransactions. MXTs revolutionised the gaming industry.

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Levii_924d ago

Geez how full of themselves are these guys.

Einhander19724d ago

He also said it has "ethical issues we need to address" but of course that doesn't get the clicks.

CrimsonWing694d ago

I’m all for it. Cuts the time to make a game. Look, Hellblade 2 took 5 years to make, if AI can do that in half the time, as a consumer, I support it.

Chard3d ago

Things will get far sloppier brother

Show all comments (24)
70°

The Witcher 3 REDkit Q&A - CDPR & Yigsoft Confirm Steam Workshop Support; Further Changes Planned

CD Projekt RED and Yigsoft have launched The Witcher 3 REDkit on PC. We interviewed both studios to discuss the release of these mod tools.

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wccftech.com