Microsoft Hires John Needham as the Studio Head at Lionhead - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 23 April 2013 / 5,186 Views
Microsoft has appointed John Needham as the Studio Head of Lionhead. He will be reporting directly to Phil Harrison, the Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business. Needham brings experience in developing MMO and free-to-play games.
"This is a historic time in our industry and I’m excited, and honoured, to be joining Lionhead and Microsoft Studios," said Needham. "Our vision is focused on building innovative gaming services and AAA experiences at Lionhead, and the rest of Microsoft Studios, which take advantage of Microsoft’s incredible hardware and software platforms. Personally, I can’t wait to get started."
"It’s my pleasure to welcome John Needham to Microsoft Studios and Lionhead," said Harrison. "He brings a wealth of proven executive leadership experience in the online gaming space to the company and I know will confidently lead Lionhead towards an ambitious online future."
Needham was previously CEO at Gazillion Entertainment, which developed Marvel Heroes. Before that he was the CEO at Cryptic Studios, which developed City of Heroes and Star Trek Online. He was also the Senior Vice President of Business Development and Operations and CFO at Sony Online Entertainment.
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cant wait for the new fable, im interested in the mmo idea =)
why have all mmo background for Lionhead? Did i miss something are they making a mmo now?
"...will confidently lead Lionhead towards an ambitious online future."
Perhaps?
Yeah. It has been heavily rumored for a while that they are making a MMO. They are also working on another game as well. Details about both are unknown at this moment.
hope they make a new movies game...
I don't mind them looking at things like a Fable MMO, as long as it is done under the banner of an expanded Lionhead.
I adore the Fable single player games, they sell millions and must be highly profitable (lets face it, they dont push graphical boundaries). They also contribute to making the Xbox brand THE destination for WRPGs (notwithstanding the Playstation brand's advantage in JRPGs).
I would view it as highly foolish to depart from the steady release of high quality single-player Fable experiences every 3-ish years.
This is Lionhead down the drain just like Rare before it, im guessing. They will probably be making small Xbox live games with micro-transaction hell.
