Microsoft announced earlier today that it would be shuttering Lionhead Games, the makers of Fable and Black & White. The studio’s closure would also mean the cancellation of Fable Legends, which was still in development.
Now, the publisher says that the game’s beta, which is currently online, will come down in April. Microsoft had hoped that the game would have a lifespan of up to 10 years.
Players in the beta can enjoy its remaining days from now until 15:00GMT on April 13, when the game’s servers shut down. Lionhead posted the details here. They will not be adding any new players to the beta.
In addition, players will no longer be able to purchase in-game gold, effective immediately. If you purchased gold and have yet to spend it, Microsoft will issue a refund to your account by next week, provided you follow the instructions on how to ask for one.
Fable Legends was originally in development for both the Xbox One and PC. Intended as an asymmetrical 4v1 online experience, the game was originally planned for a 2015 release. It was going to be a free-to-play game with a decade of on-going content. That is no longer the case.
In addition to Lionhead’s shuttering, Microsoft has also closed the Denmark-based Press Play Studios, which developed Kalimba and Max: The Curse of Brotherhood. They had been developing a game called Project Knoxville under Microsoft before being shut down.
