“With any type of franchise like that, where you have had existing versions, there is always that balance between what you are going to present, what still remains and what you want to add that is new,” he said. “It’s like the challenge of making a new Star Wars movie: There are things that everyone wants you to bring, but then you have the responsibility for that, for new places and I trust Playground has a good vision for that.”As for why Playground was chosen to take on the project, Booty noted the studio’s previous work on Forza Horizon’s open worlds and their passion for Fable as a whole:
“I just look at what Playground has done with the Horizon series: that attention to detail, the ability to represent these naturalistic landscapes. They also have a true passion for IP and a unique perspective on what is critical to Fable. Everything I have seen as the game progresses tells me this will be a very high quality release. “
It can help calm fears that the new Fable is an MMO rather than a single-player RPG, which became a widespread rumor after the game’s announcement (and a notable lack of gameplay material). While other anonymous sources have refuted those rumors, this is as close as we have heard Microsoft explain what the new Fable might be, other than a “new start” for the series.
Booty’s comments, at least to me, point more towards a version of Fable that takes modern approaches to open-world gaming, rather than one that radically changes the format of the series. On a personal level, I’d be very interested to see how the game builds on Playground’s own story in the genre – a single-player fable where you can stumble upon AI versions of your friends’ heroes fighting in the world at large, like some strangers The combination of Forza Drivatars and Dragon Dogma Pawns would be great for me.
After years of rumors, Fable was finally announced for Xbox Series X last week, but it is unknown when we will see more of the game.
Joe Skrebels is IGN Executive News Editor. Follow him on Twitter. Do you have any advice for us? Do you want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].
