7. Lionhead Studios

Lionhead went under in 2016, with Fable Legends still in the works.

Although no one would expect an outfit like Lionhead Studios (which was founded by industry legend Peter Molyneux) to tank, the truth is that Lionhead ended up closing its doors in 2016. Their biggest hit was the Xbox 360 exclusive Fable II, an epic role-playing game that let players play hero or villain in the colourful fantasy world of Albion. And let’s not forget the seminal Black & White, widely considered to be one of the most innovative games of all time.

But then Peter Molyneux’s relationship with Microsoft soured as a result of not being given enough time to polish Fable III, meaning the ace game designer left the studio for good. Lionhead’s fortunes then took a turn for the worse, releasing mediocre games like Fable Heroes which were not that well received. The studio was working on Fable Legends when Microsoft announced the company’s closure in 2016, but we’ll never know how good this game could have been, as things ended in failure for Lionhead.