Well, this isn’t entirely surprising, I guess. BBC News reports (Link) that Lionhead Studios, and with it videogame hall-of-famer to be, Peter Molyneux, have been acquired by Microsoft. From the beeb:

Microsoft has snapped up one of the UK’s leading figures from the world of video games, Peter Molyneux.

The veteran game maker is best known for inventing the god game genre, where players control all that happens.

The purchase of Mr Molyneux’s Lionhead Studios is part of Microsoft’s efforts to secure exclusive titles for its new console, the Xbox 360.

Microsoft already has an impressive stable of studios, including Bungie (“Halo”) and Ensemble (“Age of Empires”). It does seem like a good fit though.

I have a design acquaintance working for Lionhead. Assuming he wasn’t among those cut, perhaps I can get him to give me some insight. Why am I interested? Read this previous entry (reLink) and you should understand.