Just a little over a month after the long-awaited title made its world debut, Playground Games’ Fable 4 is losing one of its key team members with the departure of narrative lead Anna Megill. In addition to its work on Fable 4, Playground Games is also responsible for the wildly successful Forza Horizon series of racing games on PC and Xbox consoles.Debuting in 2004 with the release of Fable: The Lost Chapters on the Xbox, the Fable franchise offers players an often-comedic take on the typical fantasy RPG. Set in the fictional realm of Albion, each Fable game takes place in a different time period and tasks players with traditional action RPG gameplay infused with a heavy dose of player choice. How players choose to develop their character, and how they treat others in Albion, will influence their appearance, abilities, and even the world around them in some instances. The latest entry in the franchise was revealed to players last month when a gameplay trailer for Fable 4 was shown as part of the Xbox Games Showcase 2023. As first reported by GamesRadar, Fable 4 narrative lead Anna Megill has announced her departure from developer Playground Games after over three years with the company. Megill, who had previously worked as both the Lead Writer on Ubisoft's The Division 2 and the narrative lead for Remedy Entertainment’s Control, announced her departure from the UK-based studio on her personal Twitter account. Stating that she had a busy year between work on Fable 4 and writing two books, Megill said that she would be taking some time off following her resignation. Despite moving on from the studio Megill appeared to hold no ill will towards Playground Games, remarking in a tweet that “Working on Fable was a dream come true for me, and it’s wrenching to leave it behind.”
Although a high-level shakeup like this might leave some gamers feeling worried about the future of the franchise’s latest entry, Megill assured Fable 4 fans that “Playground has assembled a Heroically talented team, so I know it’s in good hands.” Even with the excitement surrounding the return of the long-running franchise, the debut of Fable 4 didn’t land with every fan. In a sadly now-all-too-common occurrence in the gaming industry, the Fable 4 trailer was flooded with dislikes by viewers upset both by the choice of a female protagonist and the fact that they didn’t consider her attractive enough.
Even though fans of the franchise have already been waiting for the next entry for years at this point, Fable 4 seems to be off to a bumpy start. But despite some pushback from disgruntled gamers and the departure of Megill, hopefully Playground Games will be able to deliver a worthy successor to the series whenever Fable 4 is eventually released.
Fable 4 is in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: GamesRadar