UPDATE: A Playground Games’ listing supports the fact that the team is working on an entirely new AAA open-world action / RPG project. This doesn’t rule out the idea that Fable 4 could be in development by Playground Games. However, the chances are smaller now that we know something new is at works.
Over the past few months, rumors started growing about Playground Games working on another project alongside Forza Motorsport 8. Everything points to Fable 4 being that game, although there’s no confirmation yet. Is Playground Games working on new Fable and Forza titles? We go over what we know so far.
The Listings
Playground Games is one of Microsoft’s most established studios, having a huge development history of Forza video games. We know for a fact that the studio is working on a Forza Motorsport 8 something that listings from Turn 10 confirm. Giving up such a big franchise that generates millions of revenue for Microsoft is a big risk and that’s something that the company can’t afford to do right now. Having Forza Motorsport 2020 added to their lineup ready for the announcement of Project Scarlet release is a huge plus for their further climb.
Apart from Forza though, there’s a big chance that Playground Games is also working on Fable 4. The studio is hiring for a new action-adventure RPG, although the listings state that it is a “new IP”. There were multiple rumors that this new action RPG is none-other than Fable 4. After the cancellation of Fable Legends, the franchise has hardly been mentioned by Microsoft.
Microsoft’s Take
However, Phil Spencer has revealed before that the franchise is far from dead. Microsoft intends to not overhype the development of games that might not get developed as fast as they think and they don’t want to take chances with their most prestigious projects.
“Nothing to announce right now but I do think the IP has a lot of places it could go.”
The Leak
Back in June, a huge leak for Fable 4 surfaced, claiming that it will be a First/Third person title with a character creation system in an open-world universe. The game will be built on the Unreal Engine, according to the leak, and will host a multiplayer and a full building system. The story seems to stretch far beyond what we know, having a focus on time travel and the returning of old characters.
Lionhead Studios, the former developer for the Fable franchise is also throwing us some mild hints. Although the original developers have “mixed feelings” about Fable 4, they are optimistic about its development. Co-Creator Simon Carter stated that “it’s great for the UK games industry” that Fable isn’t dead, giving Playground Games, a UK based studio the praises of being a talented team.
Playground Games Aggressively Hiring
Fast-forwarding to today, we find out that Playground Games is, in fact, hiring extremely talented scriptwriters for Fable 4 (the new action RPG). A report by Video Games Chronicle states that the studio is assembling a huge team of scriptwriters, all of which were previously working on Batman: Arkham Knight. More specifically, Fable 4‘s narrative director Martin Lancaster, Craig Owens, once a senior scriptwriter for Rocksteady, Kim MacAskill and Rebecca Haigh. The studio is also looking for artists, engineers, and animators, so if this indeed is Fable 4 then it is in early stages of development.
Next-Gen Fable 4?
It wouldn’t be far from reality that Fable 4 will be a next-generation title. We would not be surprised to see it as a launch title for Project Scarlett. With the amount of anticipation cycling the project, Microsoft will keep it as silent as possible to ensure a riskless announcement. With Halo Infinite too in development and a possible next-gen release, it would be a great time for Xbox to start getting its own share of exclusives, finally bumping heads with Sony and Nintendo.
For now, everything seems to be a part of a big puzzle for Fable 4. Everything points to Fable 4 being their next big project. The studio though won’t share information just yet. Their job listings are extremely vague, almost disorienting for those waiting for a new Fable game.
