Microsoft is reportedly looking to bring back the Fable video game series. The original Fable games were a big selling point for Microsoft and Xbox, with developer Lionhead Studios delivering the quirky action RPG titles as exclusives for Xbox consoles and sporadically for PC. Although the games did not always deliver on their early-production promise, the main trilogy is fondly remembered by Xbox fans in particular.
Unfortunately, Fable fell into trouble. Lionhead was tasked with shifting the focus of the series onto co-operative gameplay with Fable Legends, an asymmetrical multiplayer title that garnered a lot of curiosity from gamers. However, Fable Legends was cancelled back in 2016, taking down Lionhead Studios in the process and with it the future of the Fable franchise altogether.
Related: Lionhead Wanted To Make Fable 4 Instead Of Legends
However, it appears as though Microsoft is looking to resurrect the series sooner than some may have expected. According to Eurogamer, another Fable game is already in the works, and Microsoft has turned to another well-trusted developer in the form of Playground, the studio behind the Forza Horizon games. Development of the new Fable title will apparently be heavily supported, with Playground's new 200-person second office set to work on the project.
The new Fable game will be a story-focused open-world action RPG, but it may be some time before more details on the title are revealed. According to reports, the project is still very much in the early stages of development at the moment, with Playground bringing in new heads to help ensure that the project can hit the ground running. Nonetheless, it's still interesting to see Microsoft make the move to bring players back to Albion so quickly.
Exactly why Microsoft decided to return to Fable is still unclear, but it's been suggested that Microsoft has seen the huge success that Sony has had with Horizon: Zero Dawn and wants to bring something similar to Xbox users. Horizon: Zero Dawn was a huge success from both a critical and commercial perspective, sitting pretty as one of the best games of 2017 and a clear sign of the rebirth of single player games. Should Playground be able to reach a similar level of success to Guerrilla Games, then Microsoft is bound to be happy.
The development of a Fable game marks a significant change for Playground, with the company's previous releases being the Forza Horizon series. However, given how well Playground delivered open world gaming with the franchise, and the fact that the studio has been hiring GTA 5, Metal Gear Solid, and Hellblade alums, there's a good chance that Xbox gamers could have that big exclusive game they have been looking for.
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Source: Eurogamer