Founding Peter Molyneux founded
Bullfrog Productions in 1987, which was later acquired by
Electronic Arts (EA) in 1995. Around 1996, Molyneux had contemplated leaving Bullfrog, as he felt limited in his creative freedom under Electronic Arts. He along with Lionhead's eventual co-founders,
Mark Webley, Tim Rance and
Steve Jackson, started developing plans for a new studio. The idea of the company was to develop quality games without growing too large. Early Lionhead employees included
Demis Hassabis,
Mark Healey (Lionhead's first artist), and
Alex Evans. The hamster's death was taken as a bad sign, The studio was initially run out of Molyneux's mansion in
Elstead, According to Jackson, it was "a mere stone's throw from Bullfrog's old lily pad on the very same estate". Six companies were competing for a space, and Lionhead won due to Molyneux and Bullfrog's reputation. It won
BAFTA Awards for Interactivity and Moving Images in 2001, and
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences awards for Computer Innovation and Computer Game of the Year the following year. An expansion pack
Black & White: Creature Isle, was released the following year. In Lionhead's early years, Jackson wrote columns about the company and the development of
Black & White for magazines such as
PC Zone and
Génération 4. The articles were also published on Lionhead's website. According to
Eurogamer, Lionhead "was a continuation of the culture and development ethic of Bullfrog", which included the playing of pranks. One such prank was one "that would go down in Lionhead history". It involved a visit from the Mayor of Guildford during the development of
Black & White: Healey had inserted a couple of wires into a woollen glove with the other ends put into a floppy drive. Molyneux was forced to explain to the Mayor how the game's on-screen hand was controlled by the glove (which Healey was wearing), when it was actually being controlled by a mouse with Healey's other hand, which were hidden. The Mayor fell for the trick. By June 2002, Lionhead had established satellite companies, including Big Blue Box Studios, Intrepid Computer Entertainment (also called Intrepid Developments), and Black & White Studios. despite Molyneux's earlier statement that Lionhead would only work on one at a time. Big Blue Box Studios was founded in July 1998 by Ian Lovett and Simon and Dene Carter, because of a desire to leave Electronic Arts and "the sadly ravaged corpse of Bullfrog it had left behind". In the early 2000s, Lionhead was "growing very fast". Before
Fable shipped, Lionhead purchased Big Blue Box and Intrepid.
Dimitri was cancelled. Due to the stock market crash in the aftermath of
9/11, Lionhead sought investments from venture capitalists.), and Lionhead soon afterwards encountered financial difficulty. and said people wanted "the safety and security of being part of something bigger". for the
Xbox 360 in 2008. Jackson also left in 2006 when Microsoft took over. The general consensus amongst Lionhead was that the buyout "benefited Lionhead greatly". a position he held concurrently with the head of Lionhead. He was also joined by Paul McLaughlin, who was Lionhead's head of art. Webley then temporarily took over as head of the studio, before being replaced by Scott Henson early the following year. Molyneux said he left Lionhead because he wanted to increase his creativity. He also said that after 12 years (the series began in 2000 by Big Blue Box Studios Molyneux's departure had a much greater impact than those of other veterans who had already left the company. Lionhead became more professional and organised according to some staff. One said that Molyneux had the power to keep Microsoft at bay, and his departure left the remaining staff vulnerable. and a new one, David Eckelberry, was brought in. The closure came as a shock to some staff, who had suspected Microsoft were concerned but did not think Lionhead would be shut down: it was thought that the worst-case scenario would be that
Fable Legendss assets would be used for
Fable IV. In the 2021 documentary
Power On: The Story of Xbox, Microsoft admitted that its handling of Lionhead Studios was a mistake.
Phil Spencer, the current head of Xbox at Microsoft, admitted that forcing Lionhead to work on
Kinect and the impact of that on the quality of its games was at fault. Spencer said "You acquire a studio for what they're great at now, and your job is to help them accelerate how they do what they do, not them accelerate what you do." ==Games==