One of the quickest, simplest ways to stunt creativity is to be bought by a major cooperation. At least, that’s what Lionhead's creative director Gary Carr alludes to in a recent interview with OXM. Microsoft hasn’t picked up too many developers since the acquisition of Lionhead, and while Carr is more than happy with his company’s current relationship, he still calls being bought early on the “death knell.”
"It was seven years ago when we got bought, and Microsoft hasn't bought many studios," Carr said. "It hasn't rushed in and grabbed any newbies, because it doesn't want to do that – it doesn't want to own lots of studios, because it knows that all too often, that's the death knell. If studios want to be bought that's fine."
Creativity seemingly goes out the window when someone with a lot of money suddenly depends on your product, and while the Fable games have managed to continue to draw interest over the years, it doesn’t always work out to benefit the software. Microsoft would rather wait for a team to come to them and ask to be published.
“I don't think that Microsoft wants to buy studios, because I think it wants them to go on their journey," he concluded. "And if they're ready to be acquired, or ready to take more robust funding from a big corporation, I think Microsoft lets developers come to them."
If Lionhead wanted to continue to make big, AAA games, the move to Microsoft was the only one that made sense. However, developers on the outside shouldn’t see this as the only choice.
