There are many ways that a gaming franchise can evolve or “shift” over the course of many years. For some series, it simply means that the people who made the original titles “pass the torch” to others within the company so that they can “put their own spin” on things and attempt to keep things fresh. Sometimes, the game will go from one company to another, and those brand-new teammates will see if they can revitalize the franchise. In the case of Fable 4, the latter is what’s happening. Playground Games got the franchise after Lionhead Studios shut down many years ago.
The man behind the franchise, Peter Molyneux, is still a legend in the industry and has been diligently working on other titles since making a new studio. One of those titles was revealed at Gamescom yesterday. That being said, in a chat with IGN, he noted that he’s truly excited about what the studio is attempting with his idea:
“I’m fascinated to see what Playground does with Fable,” Molyneux revealed. “I’m absolutely delighted that the franchise is continuing to grow. I mean, that makes me so proud, to be involved with the brilliant people that made Fable and we made something that was worthy for someone as brilliant as Playground to make it. I hope they make it their Fable. I hope they keep the humor, the trailers that I’ve seen so far look stunning. But I’m curious about the gameplay and I’m curious about what their Fable looks like and plays like and feels like, as opposed to what Lionhead would look like and feel like. What an incredibly diplomatic answer that was!”
It’s interesting that he brings up the gameplay for the title, as Fable 4 has had a pair of trailers now, and they’ve both been cinematic in nature. The first one merely helped “set the tone” of the reboot, while the second focused on a returning character and helping set up the story to come. Gameplay hasn’t been shown in any real metric, making fans curious about what’s going on.
We know that Playground Games is working hard on the title, even opening up another studio to help with development. However, as Molyneux himself would tell you, one of the biggest downfalls of the series is “promising a lot, but not delivering.”
It remains to be seen whether the team can deliver and if this franchise can rise again. If nothing else, they have one more fan than before to see what happens.
