Fable Legends will bring service with a smile

Besides being in charge of Microsoft’s European game publishing, John Needham is filling the spot once held by Peter Molyneux at Lionhead Studios. As studio head, Needham is tasked with crafting the next big Fable experience. Not much is known about Fable Legends, except that it will feature an asymmetrical dungeon masters versus heroes setup. Bearing in mind Needham’s past experience at Gazillion Entertainment, Cryptic, and Sony Online Entertainment, it’s no surprise that his studio will focus on connectivity. Needham tells Edge that online social features will be a big part of Fable Legends.

“I think the real magic in the industry now is taking great traditional gameplay and IP, and this new connected world, and mashing them together. I am the person pivoting Lionhead into a games-as-service studio. Legends is quite different from previous Fable games.”

John Needham says Fable Legends will take a cue from titles like Dark Souls and Journey for its connected features. Fable Legends is expected to release in 2015.