Development on Playground Games’ upcoming game Fable appears to be struggling due to Forzatech, the engine that powers the studio’s Forza Horizon games. According to Gaz, founder of the Game On Daily news aggregate site and frequent guest on Colteastwood’s XNC (Xbox News Cast) podcast, the game is being scaled down because the team is having issues developing the game on Forzatech.
Speaking on the latest episode of Colteastwood’s XNC podcast, Gaz said that, despite the issues encountered with Forzatech, the studio has chosen to stick with it and continue developing Fable using it. Furthermore, the gameplay mechanics Playground Games had designed for the project could not be adapted to work with Forzatech.
These issues sound like they’re related to game physics, and how Forzatech, an engine tailored towards a racing game, may not be suitable for a modern RPG. Gaz further said that Playground Games, having primarily worked on the Forza Horizon series, aren’t equipped with the kind of experience needed to implementing the gameplay mechanics that the studio had envisioned. Therefore, the studio is now looking to hire developers familiar with such mechanics in the context of an open world RPG.
Gaz assured that it’s likely nothing to worry about, as the game is a further away from release than fans would expect. This certainly checks out, as Playground Games’ careers page indicates that the studio still has around 74 job openings available for the Fable project, 5 of which are Directorial roles. Therefore, it’s safe to assume that Fable isn’t hitting store shelves anytime soon.
The situation sounds eerily similar to another Xbox project, though this one is from Bethesda. Starfield has reportedly also been struggling due to game mechanics and engine related issues. If these issues persist, it could lead to prolonged development cycles and more delayed projects for Microsoft’s Xbox and Game Pass platforms.
