Rumor: Project Milo 'canceled,' tech moved to Fable project

by Alexander Sliwinski on Sep 23rd 2010 10:37AM

Milo may have wandered off from the safety of the pond and into the jaws of a balverine. A Eurogamer source tells the site that Lionhead's Kinect-powered Project Milo was canceled yesterday, with 19 contractors let go. Surviving staffers on the boy simulator team will allegedly use the tech on a "Fable themed Kinect game."

Lionhead told Joystiq today that it "cannot comment on rumors or speculation." In late June, the studio dismissed prior cancellation rumors by showing a photo of the team hard at work. That didn't happen this time. Studio head Peter Molyneux had mentioned in recent months that Milo had become a "very, very big tech demo." Perhaps it was time to finally focus on a commercial product and bury the boy alive. (Wow, that's terrifying imagery.)

Source: Eurogamer

Tags: kinect, lionhead-studios, microsoft, Milo, Milo-and-Kate, Project-Milo, xbox

Reader Comments (64)

I never noticed Robert Patrick's ears before, he looks like an elf.

@Ample Salty all the better to hear you with.

@Ample Salty

He forms them into knives to stab the dick sitting behind him in the theater making too much noise.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_aOSxyU-Pbbo/SbB--PnG4fI/AAAAAAAAABw/kfd24MLM_EA/s320/home+alone.jpg

Fablo?

@Pure Black World Tendency

Fabio?

But to be honest, i when they showed this at E3 i thought it had a to good to be true feel, i honestly never expected this to retail. so if the rumour is true, then.

The rumor that they used brain cells from real children to create Milo and now he sucks players into a virtual game world and kills them and hat they have lost no fewer than three interns?

..... wait sorry that's the plot line to Arcade.

I've been waiting a long time for you guys to bring back that Robert Patrick picture. Thank you so much.

who didn't see this coming, there's little to no market for a virtual human tamagotchi, i never understood gamers who sad they were exited for this. I always thought it was because they wanted to show that Kinect was more then a EyeToy 2.0

now a Fable themed project sounds more intriguing, as long as there's actual gameplay other then talking to a screen the whole time.

SUCKS! I wanted to give him my drawings.

@Revving Injuns

I would have given him my heart...

I don't see this chain of replies ending well...

@Hyams

HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAY

@Revving Injuns

I would have given him my neighbor's spleen.

@LaughingTarget

Stop that!

It would only be fitting if you discovered Milo chained up in the deepest, darkest dungeon in Fable 3.

"Please sir, you must let me out. The evil Duke Peter has had me imprisoned here for nigh on years. I miss the lake, and the imaginary people that helped me with my homework, and drew pictures for me that appeared from nowhere.."

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze
This.

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze
This x1000!

Probably for the better. That latest demo was horrid, and looked absolutely NOTHING like what they promised in that staged demo at e3 '09.

It was impossible for them to live up to what they showed when Kinect was first shown. No-one can honestly think that a small studio like Lionhead could create the world's most advanced artificial intelligence, with a voice and animated face, on a 199$ machine with a web camera and microphone hooked up to it?

Even if they did, it wouldn't be much of a game...
I think this is for the best, and I don't find this surprising at all.

I'm not at all surprised. With the lack of presence at E3 / PAX and the whole "Milo was cancelled"-"No it wasn't"-"Oh lol nvm, not cancelled" situation a few months back, it was clear that Milo was not succeeding.

Now, am I upset? Not really, I wasn't interested and I don't think there were that many people who genuinely wanted it out of good intentions.

"Wolfie's fine, honey. Wolfie's just fine."

"Your game is dead."

@littletmart

Right through the milk carton!

Completely proves that Lionhead and Molyneux were full of shit.

@TheE3Guy They've BEEN full of shit.

@jynxycat
They are full of shit!

Still want fable 3 tho

I'd definitely be more interested in playing a fable style game with the tech they've been working on than befriending a virtual boy. This was a good move I think. At least they're abandoning the research & time they've put into the tech, just changing the subject matter to something more interesting.

@swooded
at least they're *not* abandoning...

'Milo, come, sit in this small earthy space set into the ground, oh what, about 6 feet.'

'But, Kate, I don't want to sit in this hole....w-whu..why is the hole suddenly filling back up with soil? You haven't asked me to get out yet, is this right? Kate?.... Kate!?... Damn you!'

Not good news for the contractors, feel sorry for them.

This was never going to be more than a smoke and mirrors trick anyway.

@McDuckScrooged That's exactly what Molyneux said it was. Do people actually listen to the man while he's doing a demonstration or do their eyes just glaze over? He specifically said it was just a "trick." He used that exact word in his demonstration.

Have Milo squish the butterfly or let it live:

You chose: "squish butterfly"

I'm sorry, you've set up a chain reaction to your own demise. Game Over.

Sure sounds like the final nail in the coffin of "What Was Promised By Project Natal" to me.

Agree with McDuckScrooged, though. Hopefully the contractors that got it going find work implementing similar technologies in other ways. Considering how ambitious Milo was, I imagine those folks will be snatched up right quick.

This screen cap is from Wayne's World, you can tell because they didn't pay him enough to re-cut his hair (Last Action Hero did, however)

Take what you think Kinect can do, divide it by 3 and subtract your coffee table.

@benheck Exsqueeze me? Baking Powder?

Did I miss something? I thought it was always just a tech demo for Kinect

@KeegdnaB

same

@KeegdnaB It was never promised as anything more than a tech demo. Lionhead obviously wanted it to be more than a tech demo, but Microsoft did not believe in it as a game. Hard to say who was right or how the development might have progressed. It seems that Microsoft has a habit of making their studios stick to only making sequels to their successful brands and franchises like Fable, Forza, Halo.

Either way I think the demonstration was more exciting as to what would be possible to use Kinect for in RPGs and non-playable character interactions than as a game itself. While the premise of the game demo was definitely unique, the technology behind the demo had far greater implications.

Just more used-car-salesman tactics from Molyneux again.

Oh come on guys, Peter Molyneux never over-hyped a product before.................................................

Project Natal/kinect is like a transient dead beat dad that hollywood loves to use for cheese factor. Comes around promising you things but leaves you waiting by the window and not delivering. "it's going to be ok honey maybe something came up. Time to go to bed it's a school night" that's one expensive webcam.

peter molyneux is a god damn snake oil salesman.

@PedoJokerBear reminds me of someone.
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100831102551/reddeadredemption/images/5/54/RDR_nigelwestdickens.jpg

MILO!?! MILO!!! MILO!!!

Shocking? Naw. Disappointing maybe. It would have been really interesting and brought something pretty cool to Kinect. Because as of yet, there's not so much going for it I don't think.

So, an unofficial tech demo, that was never a game, got unofficially canceled?

Hm.

Seriously? This day totally sucks as far as news is concerned. LBP2 is pushed off into next year. Milo cancelled. What next?

@Fminus Negativity To The Rescue

Excuse me kind sir, i can not seem to find the "A" button on my kinect webcam, can you tell me where it is?

Entirely predicted.

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Milo & Kate

Rumor: Project Milo 'canceled,' tech moved to Fable project

Reader Comments (64)

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 10:38AM Ample Salty said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 10:45AM golobulus said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 1:11PM LaughingTarget said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 10:38AM MrVee PSN Vampah said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 10:38AM Pure Black World Tendency said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 10:55AM BlackEyedMonkey said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 10:40AM MrVee PSN Vampah said

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Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 10:42AM PR0F3TA said

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Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 10:51AM Uncle Jesse said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 11:00AM Hyams said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 12:24PM PedoJokerBear said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 1:15PM LaughingTarget said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 3:14PM ShadowXIII said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 10:43AM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said

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Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 4:31PM Zacxx201 said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 10:43AM Vcize said

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Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 10:48AM Electrium said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 10:50AM littletmart said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 10:59AM Uncle Jesse said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 10:54AM TheE3Guy said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 12:46PM jynxycat said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 2:59PM Decanus said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 10:56AM swooded said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 11:01AM swooded said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 10:57AM blarty said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 10:58AM McDuckScrooged said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 3:56PM cool8man said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 11:04AM HTCEVO said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 11:05AM ilduce620 said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 11:08AM benheck said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 11:15AM Petebot330 said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 11:09AM KeegdnaB said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 12:25PM Solace said

Posted: Sep 23rd 2010 4:02PM cool8man said

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