Fable Drives Playground Games to Reinvent Themselves and Step Out of Forza Horizon’s Comfort Zone

The RPG has served to create a second team and explore ideas away from driving.

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During the last Xbox Developer Direct, it became clear that Fable is not just a new project for Xbox, but also a turning point for Playground Games. The British studio, historically linked to the success of Forza Horizon, has taken advantage of this development to grow, take risks, and explore new paths that were not part of its DNA until now.

Far from being just a genre change, Fable has meant a profound transformation in the way the studio works, from the team structure to the technology used. A logical step after years of dominating the open-world racing genre, and now moving to a much more ambitious role-playing experience.

Fable as a creative laboratory for Playground Games

According to Ralph Fulton, studio director, the idea of doing something different from Forza Horizon began to take shape shortly after the release of Forza Horizon 3. The success of that project gave the necessary confidence to create a second internal team and take on a completely new challenge, with the goal of learning, growing, and evolving as developers.

Playground started with a solid foundation in open-world design, proprietary technology, and scene streaming systems, but Fable required adapting and reformulating all that knowledge to an RPG. The result is a project that does not seek to directly imitate the legacy of Lionhead Studios, but offers its own interpretation of the saga, consistent with the studio’s current identity and creative culture.

This approach has allowed Playground Games to expand its horizons without giving up what it does well. Fable becomes a key piece not only for the Xbox catalog but also for the studio’s future, which now demonstrates its ability to go far beyond racing and explore new genres with its own personality.