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Friday, April 7, 2006
Microsoft buys game creator Lionhead
British company developed 'Fable'
REDMOND -- Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it had bought Lionhead Studios, a British company that developed the "Fable" role-playing games for its Xbox video-game consoles.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
After the acquisition, Microsoft said Guildford, England-based Lionhead would continue to develop games exclusively for its Xbox consoles and Windows operating system.
Lionhead produced "Fable" for Xbox and "Fable: The Lost Chapters" for Xbox and the Windows operating system, as well as other Windows games. Microsoft said more than 2 million of the "Fable" games have been sold.
Microsoft, best known as a software maker, enjoyed a successful U.S. introduction late last year of its Xbox 360 console, the follow-up to its first Xbox console.
But the company is expected to face stiff competition once Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Co.'s Revolution consoles enter the market.
One key to keeping customers loyal is offering an alluring stable of games, including exclusive content that gamers can't play on other systems. Shane Kim, general manager for Microsoft Game Studios, said an advantage of acquiring a company such as Lionhead, rather than just doing business with it, is that it ensures that the company is able to offer a game such as the "Fable" franchise only for its consoles.
"It's really about making sure that we do a great job of driving the success of the console with exclusive content," he said.
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