A new Fable game is reportedly in the pipes
The story continues
A couple of weeks back, rumours started spreading that a new Fable game was in the works. That seemed odd considering Microsoft shut down Lionhead, the studio that made the Fable games, nearly two years ago. According to Eurogamer, those rumours were on the money: new Fable is coming, and it'll be "a story and character-focussed open-world action RPG" made by UK developer Playground Games.
They're the chaps that made Forza Horizon, so we can all look forward to zooming around Albion in Venom GTs and Camero ZL1s.
Playground recently expanded massively, opening a new studio. Officially, all we knew is that they're working on an "open-world RPG".
Fable co-creator Simon Cartor revealed "slightly mixed feelings" when he spoke to Eurogamer about the fate of the series:
"On the one hand it's great for the UK games industry, and very pleasing that Fable isn't dead; indeed, it will be lovely to play one as a punter, without coming out in hives. On the other hand it is a little curious to get rid of the team that is uniquely expert in making Fable, and then try and make Fable. Fable is a weird game, and a tough one to deconstruct for a new team. That said, the team in question is very talented, and I'm sure they'll do a fantastic job."
Despite the closer, some ex-Lionhead folk did manage to salvage their spin-off card game Fable Fortune. While the planned free-to-play RPG Fable Legends died along with the studio, Fable Fortune survived in the care of a team within Lionhead that became the studio Flowing Fowl. It's currently in early access on Steam.
I have to confess, my only experience with the series is playing a few hours of Fable 3 on a friend's Xbox and packing it in when I got too annoyed at the expressions system. At the time I found it offputtingly goofy, severing any connection I felt to the world or its characters. Should I have persisted, gang?