Fable is the talk of the town right now and Playground Games’ new RPG is sharing up to an ambitious project, according to a bold statement from Xbox Boss Craig Duncan. One of the minds behind the current state of Xbox says he already spent time with the game and was blown away, especially by the massive cast of NPCs in Fable.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with GamesRadar+ following the recent Xbox Developer Direct showcase, Duncan said he’s “played a bunch of the game,” including both combat and immersion systems, and that the project has left a strong impression. “My brain pops every time I think about the Living Population, how it works, and what it adds to the overall game,” he said, praising the game’s ambition and calling Fable “an incredible RPG.”
The star of Fable is not a character but the living breathing Albion. A standout feature of what Playground Games is building in Albion is the “Living Population.” The developers have created a cast of 1000s NPCs, each handcrafted having their own names, occupations, family units, personality traits, and every day routines.
Everything designed to make the world feel alive and reactive to plater choices. Rather then relying on common methods like procedural generation, Playground Games decided to craft each Fable NPC for authentic behaviour and distinct roles within Albion.
That creative choice even led the environment art team to laugh in disbelief when they realized every one of these characters needed furnishings and a bed in their homes.
NPCs can be romaned, married, hired, fired, or even have children with the player, with every character full voices in Fable. The design around Albion focuses on player agency and each NPC witll reflect that choice by the developers.
It is an ambtious task and fans are cautiously optimistic online at the moment. The rebooted Fable will release this Autunm on Xbox Srries X, PS5, and PC.
