Lionhead Studios may have closed its doors for the last time at the end of April, but according to Kotaku UK, several prospective buyers were lined up during a six-week pre-closure consultation period. Whilst no companies have been named, potential buyers apparently included some of the biggest names in video game publishing.

However, sadly for Lionhead staff, it appears most were only interested in the Microsoft owned Fable IP. According to Kotaku UK’s source, despite offers that were in the range of “hundreds of millions”, Microsoft would not let go of the series. It is thought that at this point 90 percent of the parties involved walked away.

The news that Microsoft would not sell Fable is unsurprising given that the series has spawned some of the best-selling games on Xbox consoles. Whilst it’s bad news for the Lionhead team, it does leave the door open for the franchise to continue under another Microsoft owned studio.

Source: Kotaku UK