Rumor: Microsoft refused to sell Fable IP, leading to Lionhead’s closure

For a rumor, this seems pretty legit considering who it's coming from. That said, before you go blasting Microsoft for being "heartless corporate evildoers" (or something to that effect), take this with the traditional grain of salt. According to multiple sources speaking with Kotaku UK, Microsoft had "several potential buyers lined up" to purchase the now dead Fable Developer, Lionhead Studios.

Among these buyers were supposedly some of the biggest names in game publishing and talks allegedly went as far as letters of intent being filed.

Ultimately all of the talks eventually fell through and the biggest reason that Kotaku UK's source cites is simply that Microsoft was unwilling to sell the Fable IP.

"90% of the people interested just walked away at that point"

Microsoft's unwillingness to sell the Fable IP is not all that surprising, considering the fact that there have been some discussions about saving the free-to-play Fable Legends. It's quite possible that they aren't done with Fable and could push the franchise onto a different studio to keep it going.

Source: [Kotaku UK]