Fable developer Playground Games has said “many people within Xbox view Fable as being vital to the DNA of the platform”, which is why this game has been allowed such a long and “protected” development.
Ralph Fulton, director of the Fable reboot, revealed these details in an interview with The Guardian. “I genuinely think Fable is an important game,” Fulton said. “What has protected us over a long development cycle is that so many people within Xbox view Fable as vital to the DNA of the platform. I would go a step further and say it’s important to video games as a whole. It offers a combination of elements that simply doesn’t exist anywhere else.”
The Fable reboot was announced in 2020, though its existence had been talked about years earlier, and it marked a surprising change for Playground Games which had until then been known for racing games like Forza Horizon.
Actual development on Fable reportedly started in 2016, and the game has seemingly weathered multiple shake-ups, including the departure of the game’s narrative lead in 2023. With Fable now set for release in 2027, it will be nearly seven years since it was officially announced.
Image credit: Microsoft
Elsewhere in the interview, Fulton referenced the impressive line-up of comedic British talent in the game, including It Crowd’s Richard Ayoade and What We Do in the Shadows’ Natasia Demetriou. “Richard Ayoade virtually improvised a new script for his scenes on the spot,” Fulton said. “Listening to him conjure that dialogue was one of my favourite days on this project. Natasia Demetriou brought a level of British swearing to her character that honestly shocked us, but it’s brilliant and we let her run with it.”
Fulton also emphasised the importance of delivering a satisfying finale, even though prevalent statistics show relatively few players see games through to their end. “It’s easy to look at industry metrics saying 100 percent of people start a game and only 25 percent finish, and decide not to invest heavily in the finale,” Fulton said. “But we relentlessly pursued quality here.
“In great Fable fashion, it culminates in a choice that really challenges you to think about who you are, with a real personal cost to weigh against the outcome.”
Fable arrives 23rd February on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. It’s the first Fable game to launch on PlayStation.