Lionhead hiring for next-gen MMO-like title

With Fable Heroes out the door and development on Fable: The Journey coming to a close, what will developer Lionhead Studios build next? According to a job listing at the United Kingdom developer, the studio is staffing up to create an all-new next-generation title with massively multiplayer online genre qualities.

The job ad (which has since been removed) was spotted by indefatigable Internet sleuth Superannuation and reported on by MCV. According to the description, the title will be a role-playing game designed with a "radical take on how cooperative and multiplayer gameplay feeds into the experience." Additionally, the title will blend single-player and multiplayer into one experience, claims the ad.

On top of that, the new game will boast a "complex progression system, multiple routes through the campaign, and an MMO-like multiplayer experience that will affect the outcome of the player experience, and many other attributes surrounding their profile (such as the environment and outcome of certain actions)." Further specifics were not offered.

While the job ad in question is no longer available, a Lionhead Studios requisition for an experienced server programmer seeks a person with knowledge of MMO titles.

Lionhead Studios is familiar with role-playing games, having created the Fable franchise, but the company has never built an MMO game. As of press time, Microsoft had not responded to GameSpot's request for comment.

If Lionhead Studios is in fact working on an MMO game, the company will do so without Peter Molyneux. He left Microsoft in March and is currently heading up 22 Cans, a new independent developer.