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In 1987 Peter Molyneux founded Bullfrog Productions, along with his then partner Les Edgar in Guildford, Surrey, England to develop an idea he had for a revolutionary new type of strategy game for home computers. This first game, Populous, went on to sell over 4 million copies. Molyneux's follow-up designs included hits like Powermonger, Syndicate, Magic Carpet and Dungeon Keeper. Each sold in excess of 500,000 copies and firmly established Bullfrog as one of the most innovative game design studios in the world. Another Molyneux title, Theme Park sold over 3.5 million copies and became a sensation in Japan.
In 1995 Molyneux sold Bullfrog to the world's largest computer games publisher, Electronic Arts. It was a deal, which made him a wealthy man. Though he was retained as MD of Bullfrog, working within a large corporation did not suit Molyneux's style. In early 1997 he announced he was leaving Bullfrog to set up a new venture: Lionhead Studios.
Within weeks of announcing his departure from Bullfrog, he was approached by most of the major players in the industry, including Sega, Nintendo and Eidos, with offers. The new venture was immediately in the news, with lengthy features on Lionhead and Molyneux himself appearing in all the leading UK trade and consumer magazines. Similar articles appeared in dozens of overseas publications. More recently, a "Lionhead Diary" feature has been successfully syndicated to leading games magazines in over 12 territories including all the major markets (USA, Japan, UK, Germany, France). It's combined monthly circulation is over 1.3 million readers.
Since it's formation Lionhead has been working on its first game Black & White, which is the most anticipated PC release of 2000. Lionhead has also grown into a thriving company of 28 people. While Peter believes that small is beautiful, he doesn't want Lionhead to become a one product every two years, small-scale development studio. Therefore, the company has set up it's own innovative satellite scheme. This arrangement allows talented, and creative development groups to work on their own projects, while having access to Lionheads technology and resources such as sound and music, PR and administration.
The new satellite development teams have a head start in getting their first projects off the ground. Although the satellites are very much responsible for the day-to-day development and direction of their projects, they also have the invaluable advice and guidance of Peter Molyneux.
To date there are three satellite groups: The first, Big Blue Box Studios is based in Godalming, Intrepid Games are based in London and Black & White Studios Ltd are close to Lionhead Studios in Guildford. This third satellite is set to work solely on conversions, extras, add-ons and ultimately a sequel to Black &White, whilst both Big Blue Box and Intrepid are hard at work on their first games.
Lionhead Studios represents a unique new model, allowing games to be developed in a small scale, creative, family style environment, whilst having a higher output of releases than the average small development house. Black & White, which is due for release later this year, has attracted a huge amount of interest and will prove that this is the best development model for original, innovative, but commercially successful games.
Software Highlights from Credited Titles
Lionhead's first work that SPOnG is aware of is the 2000 title, "Black & White" (Power Mac).
The company has been involved titles released on the Xbox One, PC, Xbox 360, PS2, Power Mac, Xbox, GameCube, PlayStation and Dreamcast. Of these, "Black & White" (PC), "Fable: The Lost Chapters" (Xbox), "Fable II" (Xbox 360), "Fable" (Xbox), "Black and White 2" (PC) has been a best selling title.
The company's most recent involvement was on the 2015 release "Fable Legends" (Xbox One).
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Related Press Releases
19 Aug 2009
28 Jan 2003
17 Sep 2002
Related Games
People
| Peter Molyneux | Director | ||||
| John Needham | CEO | 23 Apr 13 | - | ... | |
| Stuart Whyte | Executive Producer | 1 Jun 04 | - | ... | |
| Steve Goss | Art/Design Management | ||||
| Andy Bass | Lead Artist | 98 | - | ... |
Timeline
Related News & Nibbles
But the team picked itself back up again.
17 Jul 2012
Fable III PC sales merely a "bonus."
17 May 2011
Lionhead has changed its design process since its RPG sequel.
28 Mar 2011
Not saying that they're not doing it though, eh?
18 Mar 2011
Fixes game save corruption, Sanctuary issues.
01 Dec 2010
Apparently this means the Epic will surely make Milo
20 Oct 2010
Nicked the Touch mechanic for Fable III
01 Oct 2010
UK Museum Gets Ninja Theory, Splash Damage, Lionhead Guest Speakers
23 Sep 2010
Voice rec, child development, and Peter Molyneux
18 Aug 2010
Milo 'appeals to all the dark thoughts of humanity'.
05 Aug 2010
Contradicts David Braben
01 Jul 2010
Molyneux: third game to have greatest cast of any game
08 Apr 2010
Fable creator a huge fan of Quantic Dream's story game.
17 Mar 2010
Videos are being prepped for February press event.
08 Jan 2010
Could sell FAQs, weapons and new game areas.
22 Oct 2009
Lionhead gets stacked with revolutionaries
14 Aug 2009
Lionhead not abandoned
04 Jun 2009
Man asked to sign agreement on harassment without agreeing.
24 Mar 2009
Plus: "I’m famously awful at developing games" says Lionhead boss
17 Mar 2009
Ross and Charlie Brooker to star: a Twitter story...
11 Mar 2009
Lionhead man slaps big "2008's most important creative innovation" sticker on LBP
16 Jan 2009
First major Microsoft keynote since '05.
16 Jan 2008
So is Fable 2 going to be any different?
15 Aug 2007
Bigmouth strikes again.
05 Oct 2006
Peter Molyneux – the exclusive SPOnG interview. Live, now.
07 Aug 2006
And more cagey about how much cash Microsoft gave him.
03 Aug 2006
Plus, his thoughts on Sony's bandwagon jumping
21 Jul 2006
Are consolidation and creativity mutually incompatible?
13 Apr 2006
Trees. The new grass, which was the "new trees" anyway...
11 Jul 2005
SPOnG staff exchange knowing glances over Project Dimitri.
06 Apr 2005
UK legends fail badly to make good on latest brilliance claims
10 Dec 2004
Eidos, Activision and Microsoft prowl around the Lion's den
02 Jul 2004
After a bout of heel-dragging, Lionhead comes up with the goods.
15 Oct 2003
The award for best opening of an envelope goes to...
25 Mar 2002
The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) has revealed the nominees for the fifth Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.
11 Feb 2002
God game confirmed for the console even the almighty one couldn't help
28 Apr 2001
Black and White becomes an even better game, if that's possible.
10 Apr 2001