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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dirigiblebill3016d ago

"All quiet on the western front"

nX3016d 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_MurphysLaw3016d 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.

4Sh0w3016d 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.

Eonjay3016d ago

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

OC_MurphysLaw3016d 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.

TheCommentator3016d ago (Edited 3016d 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.

starrman19853016d 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.

Magnes3016d 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_supernova3016d 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."

S2Killinit3016d ago (Edited 3016d ago )

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

Griever3016d ago (Edited 3016d 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_red3016d ago (Edited 3016d 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.

Bigpappy3015d 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.

3015d ago
rainslacker3015d 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.

IGiveHugs2NakedWomen3015d ago

Good ole Phil. Keeping those Microsoft suits happy.

Why o why3015d ago (Edited 3015d 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

bouzebbal3015d 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..

Wallstreet373015d 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.

Yetter3015d 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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Zeref3016d ago Show
3016d ago Replies(5)
showtimefolks3016d ago

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

badz1493015d 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!

PhucSeeker3015d 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.

showtimefolks3015d 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

UltraNova3015d 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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StifflerK3016d 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.

RiseofScorpio3016d ago

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

Magnes3016d ago (Edited 3016d 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?

Overload3016d ago (Edited 3016d 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.

Gazondaily3016d 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.

Overload3016d ago (Edited 3016d 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.

nX3016d ago

You only read what you want to read, huh?

4Sh0w3016d ago (Edited 3016d 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.

Eonjay3016d 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.

Death3016d 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.

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gangsta_red3016d 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.

Christopher3016d 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_red3016d 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_red3015d ago (Edited 3015d 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_red3015d ago Show
agame9143015d ago

So that means fire the whole team?

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dkp233016d 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

TwoForce3016d ago (Edited 3016d ago )

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

AizenSosuke3016d ago

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

sprinterboy3016d ago ShowReplies(2)
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30°

Interview on Indika with the Actress for Indika (Isabella Inchbald)

Interview with Isabella Inchbald, Actress for (Indika) in Indika which is an emotional, thought provoking journey through a nun's tale in questioning her religion.

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480°

Mark Cerny: When making consoles, we're not trying to build low-cost PCs

PlayStation legend Mark Cerny discusses PS5, the challenges of making consoles, and his 42-year games industry career

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darthv722d ago

Well... they used to design their own chips. Emotion Engine, Cell, RSX... when they switched to using X86 based chips is now more akin to low-mid cost PCs than before. It may not look like a PC but it pretty much is one. I'd bet it could do productivity stuff just fine if they allowed it to.

Cockney2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I think series consoles are closer to pc than playstation seeing as they used the full suite of rdna 2 functions, didn't Sony strip a lot of that away to streamline their machine to be games focused? Its probably lacking in the office and productivity department, don't ask me what their custom chip does or doesn't do I just remember reading a lot about at the time, "rdna 1.5" was the call and yet what we see is pretty much level pegging as far as games go

GamerRN2d ago

Actually, stripping that away doesn't streamline, it hinders. Those features are actually helpful for gaming.

And they didn't strip them out, they just didn't work closely enough to be able to use them all since specs weren't finalized. Microsoft took an inside line on that one.

The reason why things are equal is because Xbox rarely has games designed on their box, they are usually designed on PS5 and ported over. So Xbox loses the power edge it has to making up the poor optimization.

It's ok, I think the lesson is you have to have a significant increase in power of 30 percent or more to be noticeable. And you have to sell enough to become the lead console for development otherwise you lose that power.

Einhander19722d ago

@GamerRN

PS5 outperforms series x because it uses custom chips to process things that on xbox need to be done by the GPU/CPU.

Things like Tempest Audio, and it's custom compression chip for SSD as well as having a separate chip for upscaling using checkerboard and presumably FSR runs off it as well.

OlderGamer171d 16h ago

O please stop the myth that the seriesX mythe is the only console that is using the "the full suite or Rdna2" is already debunked al long time ago.

Number1TailzFan2d ago

The consoles use video ram as system ram as well since it's all shared, so nah.

1d 17h ago
Christopher2d ago

You should probably read the whole quote and not just go based on the title.

darthv722d ago

I have read it... I dont think anyone can build a PC that equates to the performance of a PS5/Series X for anywhere close to their selling point. Not for a while at least.

And my comment about them switching from custom chips to more PC related just adds to that fact. whether people want to believe it or not... Sony has built a low cost (not spec, there is a difference) PC.

neutralgamer19922d ago (Edited 2d ago )

We need better games on these consoles. This generation has been such a huge letdown so far. Moving forward these current consoles will be supported even when newer Playstation and Xbox are in the market. AAA games have been so expensive to make and it seems fun is taken out of games and loot boxes take their place. Try playing a NBA 2k game it's like a casino with slot machines

just_looken1d 18h ago

The cost of making these games is a scam

Nba 2k19 to 2k14 its like madden the budget to make went stupid high but the fundamental of the game and the game modes never changed.

Anything now even basic intersection construction is tens of millions but pre coivid few hundred grand.

2018 here is $400 landscaping now here is the pink slip to my car.

I swear the cost of everything is the same but there taking of that huge profit top for there own pockets.

Einhander19722d ago

The PS5 is incredibly customized.

The SSD, the Tempest Audio, the APU itself is a mix of cross generation AMD hardware in order to be more optimized for gaming and cost efficient.

The PS5 Pro also has features from cross generation AMD hardware with RT features from RDNA 4 plus it's own custom upscaler PSSR.

PlayStation 5 Pro features next-gen RDNA 4-based ray tracing engine, allows 2-3x faster RT
https://www.tweaktown.com/n...

PlayStation still uses custom designed hardware.

darthv722d ago

honestly... I dont know why some are taking offense to it being called a low cost PC. It really is... and low cost is a good thing. the article did not say low performance PC... that is totally different.

Einhander19722d ago

I'm saying they still are designing their own chips, they just use AMD templates.

The PS5 APU has features from RDNA 1 2 and 3, and the PS5 Pro adds features from RDNA 4, and the CPU is the same with it own customized features.

Then all of that is paired with other custom chips.

just_looken1d 18h ago

What you all said my rig in my bedroom can do it no issues

That plastic box has a 2020 cpu with the pro using a 2021 6700

The custom is do to them being dirt cheap with a 2 prong power supply so they made a cpu/gpu combo chip aka apu.

Get a amd laptop with there new mobile chips get the same performance.

VincentVanBro2d ago

You’re right but downvoted for some reason.

just_looken1d 18h ago

Its this site even the head admin banned me for awhile being but hurt over my "anti" sony comments.

n4g is pro sony nothing sony will ever do can change that.

Pyrofire951d 23h ago (Edited 1d 23h ago )

When you only look at the big flagship chips that seems true, but there's a lot going on in a modern console that takes advantage of being a dedicated kit. The various elements put into how the pipelines are connected shape the direction of games. End to end decryption and data streaming is something big that PC can only kind of do and with less certainty for example. Dedicated audio chip that rivals the main CPU in the PS4 is a big paradigm shift, devs used to fight for cores and audio was often last priority, whereas in traditional PC design the main CPU does both of those jobs of processing audio and decryption, while also performing all the other CPU based tasks.
It's not the custom silicon that used to be what made consoles but there's a lot more to consoles now. Data storage was not even a consideration and almost no RAM was on old consoles. Now there needs to be an enormous amount of SSD storage, and RAM to make these games tick with how much is demanded from them.

just_looken1d 18h ago

@darth

Your comment show how many sony blindboys are on here

You are 100% correct but to add on the gamecube-ps3 also had a gpu/cpu combo back in the day unlike modern consoles that are just glorified tablets using apu/igpu's.

I miss the ps3 era start of ps4 era that sony was awesome

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MIDGETonSTILTS172d ago

Yah, hence the majority of the PS5’s hardware investment going towards an SSD instead of a GPU.

There are countless custom pc gaming rigs out there, and I bet none of them took an SSD-centric approach to their design, like the ps5 did.

just_looken1d 18h ago

LMAO wow sony blind boy's are mad in love

That is called direct storage windows 10 has had that for over 5 year's every computer with a nvme based ssd has had that tech for years.

https://www.thewindowsclub....

The ps6 will then have this new amazing tech you all will go crazy over resize bar
https://www.howtogeek.com/8...

But that tech has been out for 2 years all 40series gpu's intel gpus and the new amd cards have that tech.

There is nothing a ps5 can do over a 4+ year old computer 2019 rig want resize bar? get a cheap amd/intel card for half the cost of a ps5.

MIDGETonSTILTS171d 6h ago

Clearly you did not watch Cerny’s first ps5 breakdown, so you don’t appreciate EVERYthing Cerny did to leverage their extremely fast SSD.

bigfish2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I can see where he’s coming from re ps5 not just being a box with parts like a pc. They must also spend an awful lot on r & d just to design the thing so it has aesthetic appeal and typical Japanese with some sort of Philosopy behind the design. Would also think other factors around the custom airflow and the like would cost a lot given that it’s not a standard box shape

gold_drake2d ago

true, but the alternative is, relatively, a expensive ordeal.
unless you dont game at all ha.

mkis0071d 23h ago (Edited 1d 23h ago )

Just spent 2000k on a 4070ti super 7800x3d 1440p gaming pc. Honestly consoles will never be replaced at this wide a gap in price. I plan to get a ps5 pro too.

just_looken1d 18h ago

@mk

You waisted 2 grand you mean

At 1440p a amd4 chipset with a 5600x3d combined with a 6750xt even a 6800 can push 1440p just a much for half the cost or less used/new and or sales.

I have a 75hhz monitor in my bedroom 1440p playing games maxed out spent around 1200cad but aio 5800x3d 32gb of ram and a 6750xt 28 or 30 inch monitor.

Every time i hear pc so expensive i just laugh you can spend less than $500 buy a used ebay rig fix it up or a office pc toss in a cheap low profile card.

Pyrofire951d 22h ago

If you look into the hardware beyond just the CPU and GPU things start to look different, and there's plenty beyond just those two parts, those two parts even are modified to their own design in some degree.

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50°

Eternal Damnation Interview With Soham Jaiswal, CEO, SD Games

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