“I told the team early on that we aren’t Lionhead, and we shouldn’t pretend to be,” Fulton explained. “This project must be a Playground game. I truly believe that the unique personality and culture of a development team are always reflected in their final work.”
One fascinating revelation from the archival research was that Lionhead never strictly classified Fable as “fantasy,” despite its abundance of magic and mythical creatures. Fulton shares a similar perspective on the game’s tonal identity.
“Our interpretation is that ‘fairytale’ and ‘fantasy’ sit at opposite ends of the creative spectrum,” Fulton noted. “We all recognize traditional fantasy—it’s the gritty world of The Witcher, the vastness of Skyrim, or the epic scale of Lord of the Rings. Those stories are often grand, geopolitical, and intensely serious. You can almost see the dark, muted color palette associated with them.”
A standout feature of the recent Xbox Developer Direct was the reboot’s sophisticated approach to NPCs. The world is populated by more than 1,000 unique characters, nearly all of whom offer deep interaction. Players can engage in complex relationships, from marriage and divorce to professional employment. Fulton previously discussed with GamesRadar+ how these ambitious NPC systems are the heartbeat of Albion’s “fairytale” open world.
“We felt it was essential to reboot the series while leaving our own mark on it. This had to be Playground’s Fable,” Fulton concluded.
In other news, Playground has confirmed that the Fable reboot will not feature a dog companion, much to the disappointment of long-time fans.
