In a shocking turn of events this morning, Fable Legends' development has been cancelled 

The post, that you can see on Xbox Wire, indicates that not only will Fable Legends be cancelled, but first party studio Press Play Denmark will be closed and Project Knoxville is terminated as well. Knoxville was the studio's fan voted game during the contest run early last Autumn. Lionhead Studios UK is also scheduled to close, but Microsoft is currently discussing with employees. Hanno Lemke, the General Manager at Microsoft Studios Europe, stated that 

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.

You never like to hear about studio closures as it means job loss, but Microsoft is actively seeking to assist its impacted employees locate new employment. Mr. Lemke indicated that 

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.

I'm surprised from a technical stand point that Microsoft is cancelling Fable Legends. After all, they have put so much time and effort into its development for its scheduled release later this year. On the other hand, I totally understand it conceptually. Both Fable 1 and 2 were great games. Fable 3 began to get away from the core understanding of the game, but still maintained a decent overall product. Fable Legends' focus on multiplayer in a market that is actually RPG starved was bewildering, especially considering the first three titles were all RPG. The announcement of free to play and its rotational character schedule didn't sit well with fans either.

Of course, this can all change once the game play is experienced. After all, if the game is good players don't really care about anything else. Unfortunately, the Fable Legends Beta was much maligned with bugs and various issues and the gameplay setup never really took off. Switching from a standard third person view to a top down view for the villain, an overpriced in game shop as well as a number of other issues made it seem like Fable Legends couldn't get out of its own way.  Hopefully, everyone at the studio ends up on their feet with new employment.

We've contacted Microsoft for comment and will let you know what we hear. What are your thoughts on this?