When you look back at Microsoft’s past in gaming – the snubbing of PC gaming, the lack of exclusives on Xbox and insistence to stick to the Big Three for its first-party – it’s in considerably a better position today. Last year saw the launch of three big titles – Hi-Fi Rush, Forza Motorsport and Starfield (there was no fourth game and it certainly wasn’t developed by Arkane Austin). Impressions were mixed on the latter two, but they found some supporters. Furthermore, despite 2022 being a lot more woeful in terms of big releases, it still offered well-received titles like Pentiment and Grounded while continuing to support the likes of Sea of Thieves.
However, there’s also no denying that in terms of what it promised and the sheer amount of resources that Microsoft has poured into acquisitions and first-party support, it should be doing better. Several first-party titles languish in the background after their initial announcements, including State of Decay 3, Perfect Dark and Everwild. Perhaps the biggest among these is Playground Games’ Fable, a reboot of Lionhead Studios’ acclaimed RPG franchise, which has seen some hard times in its latter years.
Fable was rumored since 2018, and as unlikely as it seemed, Playground soon posted nearly 200 job listings for the development of an unannounced open-world RPG. Even with a video seemingly leaked in 2019, Microsoft would finally make the official announcement at its 2020 Xbox Games Showcase. Fable was, indeed, back and it was seemingly in good hands.
Playground Games is renowned for its Forza Horizon series, which are excellent racing titles and open-world games in their own right. Each title manages to one-up the previous while pushing the series forward – look no further than Forza Horizon 5, which had over 20 million players in its first seven months of release. It seemed like the perfect fit – after all, if there’s any studio consistently delivering for Xbox throughout the years without fail, it’s Playground.
Nearly four years since its official announcement, and there’s still no word on Fable’s release date, while updates on development have been sporadic. Last year saw an in-game trailer at the Xbox Showcase. When it was announced, the reboot looked to earmark Microsoft’s new generation of consoles. By the time it releases, there may already be a mid-gen refresh where it serves as the centerpiece for promotions.
One should always ask “What happened?” in these cases. It certainly wouldn’t be a first for Microsoft’s first-party titles. Between development troubles for State of Decay 3 (especially with allegations of bullying and burnout at Undead Labs), departures and differences in vision for The Initiative on Perfect Dark, Rare still not being able to figure out what it wants Everwild to be. Arkane Studios’ Redfall is a sordid testament to the issues with remaining too hands-off.
Then there’s the whole mess behind Halo Infinite’s campaign development. However, in Fable’s case, there have been rumors and reports of how long it would take to launch, but few reports of development troubles. Not that there aren’t any at all, but we’ll get to that.
There’s certainly no shortage of talent. Creative director Ralph Fulton has been at Playground for over a decade and worked on all the Forza Horizon titles. Chief designer Will Kennedy worked on Grand Theft Auto 5 and GTA Online, having been at Rockstar for eight years. Martin Lancaster, Kim MacAskill and Craig Owens, Rocksteady’s narrative team for Batman: Arkham Knight, also joined. By the way, Lancaster is gone from the studio and seemingly back at Rocksteady, which is still working on seasonal content for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. But we’ll get to the recent departures.
The rest of the development team is similarly decorated, composed of members who have worked on titles like Borderlands, Horizon Zero Dawn, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, Metal Gear Solid 4 and 5, Dead Space 2, Mass Effect 3, Ghost Recon Wildlands, Hitman and so on. Anna Megill, renowned for her work as the narrative lead on Remedy’s Control, also joined the team as its senior writer and would later become the narrative lead. She’s also gone, by the way.
It all started in April 2021, via an innocuous quote by GamesIndustry.biz founder Christopher Dring. On VGC’s Off The Record podcast, he revealed after speaking to “a few friends” at Xbox Game Studios that three big titles – Everwild, Perfect Dark and Fable are “so far away.” He even joked that “there might even be a new Xbox by the time these games come out…They are so far away.” When addressing Xbox publishing Kojima Productions’ next title (later revealed to be OD), Dring remarked, “I wonder if Xbox is looking to invest in signing certain products at the minute because they don’t have a line-up of big exclusives at all.”
A few months later, following Xbox’s June showcase, Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb would reveal that Fable, Perfect Dark wouldn’t “see the light of day at least until 2023.” Notice that he didn’t say “release”, and quite frankly, he’s not wrong. Fable had its in-game trailer last year. Perfect Dark remains MIA, though, and there’s still no hide or hair of Everwild, despite reportedly being pushed back to 2024.
In November 2021, lead engineer Tom Golton tweeted about working on Fable for four years, which means it would have started production sometime in 2017. Pre-production seems more likely, though how extensive and what that includes is very much up in the air. With rumors of its development circulating in 2018, it would have been in the works for a while. Playground was still recruiting some big-name developers, including those who worked on Sea of Thieves, Blood and Truth, and even Amie Loake, who worked on Fable Anniversary and in a production role on Fable Legends.
Mid-2022, trouble allegedly started brewing. Gaz from Game on Daily reportedly spoke to a source who revealed that the Fable team was having trouble with the ForzaTech Engine and that the game had to be scaled down. “The gameplay mechanics were eluding them. They couldn’t retrofit into the engine”, and there was a lack of expertise “in the open-world gameplay with different mechanics.” While claiming there was nothing to worry about and that it only meant a release much farther off than most were expecting, it was worrying enough to have Loake respond on Twitter.
“I wanted to clear something up about scoping; it is a normal, necessary and healthy part of game development. I can guarantee that every single AAA game you’ve ever played will have gone through scoping regularly during development. It intends to make sure the team is focused on one clear vision and can get it made in the time they have without killing themselves. Games that haven’t been scoped correctly often have delays and crunch, both we should be aiming to avoid whenever possible.”
While other parts of the rumor, like the team having trouble with ForzaTech or lacking expertise with the open-world gameplay, weren’t addressed, Loake isn’t wrong. Jez Corden of Windows Central would report later that that development was going fine and even discussed how “the developer was talking about how the game kept getting delayed because they couldn’t stop adding features, you know? And that’s when you have a scoping problem…. They call it ‘feature creep’ sometimes where you just keep adding features, you keep adding features, and it means your game keeps getting delayed and delayed.”
Corden explained that this could lead to “overlapping, cascading problems, and you end up in a situation where the game’s just delayed a million years out of what you originally planned.” So, from that perspective, scoping is reasonable, and the overall game will be more focused, especially since it doesn’t need every single feature. Less is more and all that.
Around November 2022, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reported that Eidos Montreal is assisting development on Fable, not unlike Crystal Dynamics working with The Initiative on Perfect Dark. However, more troubling rumors began to surface in December 2022. Corden revealed that “internal politics” surrounding the engine that games could use had caused “developmental problems” for both Fable and Halo Infinite.
This is down to Microsoft wanting to rely on its tools instead of relying on Unreal Engine, but the company has policies regarding how long contractors can work on projects. As a result, staff will leave, and those brought on board must be trained on Microsoft’s tools, leading to delays.
Things started to look up in February 2023 – producer Vijay Gill indicated in his LinkedIn profile that he had been “preparing and facilitating regular game playthroughs” of Fable, so at least the title was in a playable state. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s in a state to be shipped. Also, while narrative lead Anna Megill said she couldn’t wait to showcase “all the wonderful we’ve created,” a report from VGC’s Jordan Miller indicated that Fable was still “miles away”, while Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is closer.
The Xbox Games Showcase arrived, and Fable appeared in all its glory. Afterwards, lead lighting artist Lukas Koelz revealed the trailer was completely in-game and captured on an Xbox Series X. Meanwhile, just two days later, Megill revealed she was stepping away from her role, noting the time felt right for “new challenges.”
In February 2024, insider NateTheHate reported that Fable was targeting a 2025 release, but he received this information sometime the year prior. Whether it’s still targeting next year and when, or plans have changed, leading to even more delays, is unknown. Then, of course, we come to the most recent departures from the studio.
Along with Lancaster, four other developers left the studio, some departing for Maverick Games (formed last year and consisting of former Playground employees) and another heading to Avalanche Studios Group. Some infer that they’ve finished their work and everything is business as usual. It doesn’t necessarily mean that Fable is closer to launch, though it may be in the final stretch. While not an exodus of departures to cause worry, Eidos Montreal recently laid off 97 employees and reportedly canceled its new Deus Ex title. Work continues on a new IP, but its status on Fable is unknown.
All eyes are on Microsoft now with its next Xbox Games Showcase in June. With Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 launching in May, it can deliver a must-have console exclusive with a superb narrative. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Starfield’s first expansion are also coming, and it could very well promote these as their big releases for 2024. That leaves plenty of time to prepare for next year, maybe make some big announcements, and finally showcase Fable before its rumored 2025 launch.
Make no mistake – it’s one of the publisher’s biggest releases, a title that it’s nurtured from the ground up instead of simply receiving as a package deal via studio acquisition. For Playground Games, it’s the opportunity to put all the rumors to rest and finally showcase its open-world prowess outside of the Forza Horizon series. Perhaps it could serve as a new beginning for the Fable franchise, which still carries the albatross of Fable Legends’ failure.
Whatever the case, the ball is in Microsoft’s court, and another in-game trailer won’t cut it. Even if it doesn’t narrow the release date beyond 2025, it must discuss and showcase gameplay. It has to give players a reason to care beyond the famous actors and stunning visuals. Whether it’s well-received or not is a different matter entirely, but for a project that will have been eight years in the works when it launches, the time to prove itself is beyond overdue.
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