{"id":14212,"date":"2026-09-15T19:10:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T16:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/?p=14212"},"modified":"2026-09-15T22:15:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T18:45:43","slug":"fable-developer-explains-why-xbox-protected-the-project-over-its-long-development-cycle-amid-layoffs-and-studio-closures-elsewhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/2026\/09\/15\/fable-developer-explains-why-xbox-protected-the-project-over-its-long-development-cycle-amid-layoffs-and-studio-closures-elsewhere\/","title":{"rendered":"Fable Developer Explains Why Xbox &#8216;Protected&#8217; the Project Over Its Long Development Cycle, Amid Layoffs and Studio Closures Elsewhere"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Fable maker Playground Games has detailed how its upcoming RPG survived a decade in development, amid layoffs and studio closures across the rest of Xbox. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Early work on building Fable&#8217;s team began in 2017, just a year after Microsoft shut down classic Fable maker Lionhead Studios. 10 years on, Playground Games&#8217; Fable will finally launch after a mammoth development, into a very different gaming landscape. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">When work on Fable began, Xbox was still to acquire We Happy Few maker Compulsion Games, Psychonauts studio Double Fine, State of Decay developer Undead Labs, or Hellblade team Ninja Theory \u2014 all companies it subsequently cast adrift this summer. Xbox was yet to set up The Initiative, the team it pumped millions into for the purposes of making Perfect Dark, then closed after 7 years with nothing to show for it. There was no sign Xbox would splash out $7.5 billion on Bethesda (including id, MachineGames, and the now-divested Tango Gameworks). And there was certainly no inkling it would drop $68.7 billion on Activision Blizzard.<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">The 100 Best Xbox Games of All Time<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\">&lt;img alt=&quot;What is an Xbox? Microsoft has spent 25 years trying to answer the question, but for fans, the answer is easy: \u201cXbox\u201d evokes one-eared headsets wired into the memory card slots of massive controllers with breakaway cords. A dashboard with gleaming skeuomorphic blades and avatars adorned in earned accessories. That sound that plays when a hard-earned Achievement finally pops. \u201cXbox\u201d means heavy-duty hardware. Tactile sensations. Friends connecting for the first time. And that\u2019s before we even get to the games.<\/p>\n<p>It may be that the very idea of an Xbox game is coming to an end. Microsoft has undeniably shifted its tactics, with a new focus on multi-platform releases, handheld Xboxes that are actually miniature Windows computers, and the potential that future Xbox consoles may simply be gaming PCs. So now seems as good a time as any to look back at the entire history of Microsoft\u2019s console journey and rank the best Xbox games, with help from our friends at Outside Xbox, the multimillion-subscriber channel that serves up weekly videos about video games and video game-adjacent things<\/p>\n<p>When we say \u201cthe best Xbox games,\u201d we mean the ones that most evoke that weighty sense of \u201cXboxness.\u201d Some are first-party, most are exclusives, and all of them are indelibly tied to the legacy of and fondness for a platform that\u2019s left a massive mark on gaming. These are the 100 Best Xbox Games of All Time. We&#8217;ll be updating this list daily with 25 games at 7am PST\/10am ET\/3pm GMT from Tuesday, 20th January to Friday, 23rd January, until number one is revealed.<\/p>\n<p>&#8221; decoding=&#8221;async&#8221; class=&#8221;progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity&#8221; loading=&#8221;lazy&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fable-developer-explains-why-xbox-protected-the-project-over-its-long-development-cycle-amid-layoffs-and-studio-closures-elsewhere.gif&#8221; data-cy=&#8221;progressive-image&#8221;&gt;<span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3027214138 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\"><\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Likewise, there was no telling that Microsoft&#8217;s many acquisitions would be followed by successive waves of layoffs. 1,900 jobs were slashed in January 2024, many from the newly-acquired Activision Blizzard, while at least 650 staff were let go later that year, and Redfall maker Arkane Austin was closed. Last year, meanwhile, 9,000 staff departed Microsoft as the company pivoted towards AI spending, wiping out The Initiative and scores of workers from both Forza Motorsport team Turn 10 and veteran British outfit Rare, which saw its meandering work on Everwild ended after more than a decade.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">And there were this year&#8217;s layoffs, the first to come from new Xbox boss Asha Sharma. These will ultimately end up hitting 3,200 workers, with significant doubt now placed on the future of Marvel&#8217;s Blade maker Arkane Lyon.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">So, how did Fable survive all of that? Speaking to The Guardian, director Ralph Fulton explained that the Fable franchise simply remained &#8220;vital&#8221; to Xbox.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;I genuinely think Fable is an important game,&#8221; Fulton said. &#8220;What has protected us over a long development cycle is that so many people within Xbox view Fable as vital to the DNA of the platform. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;I would go a step further and say it&#8217;s important to video games as a whole,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;It offers a combination of elements that simply doesn&#8217;t exist anywhere else.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Video games do not typically get the luxury of having decade-long development cycles, and it does feel like Fable is one of Xbox&#8217;s few core brands that remain central to the platform, alongside Halo, Forza and Gears of War. Compared to these, it&#8217;s perhaps not a surprise to see Xbox push on with the game&#8217;s lengthy road to release, even as it ditched untested ideas like Everwild (which seemed some way from release still, even after a decade in the oven). And then there&#8217;s the fact that, while one team within Playground was busy building Fable, another was just as busy pumping out its hugely-successful and well-regarded Forza Horizon games, which will certainly have helped pay the bills.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Whatever the case, we&#8217;re very happy Fable is now nearing the end of its journey \u2014 and looking forward to playing it when it finally arrives on February 23, 2027.<\/p>\n<section class=\"author-sign-off\" data-cy=\"author-sign-off\"><span class=\"stack jsx-59817748 jsx-1927875859\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"rounded jsx-444076027 jsx-4218469134 profile-thumb jsx-2141281959 aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-1-1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Tom Phillips Avatar\" class=\"progressive-image profile-thumb-img jsx-249361588 jsx-2338608387 expand\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fable-developer-explains-why-xbox-protected-the-project-over-its-long-development-cycle-amid-layoffs-and-studio-closures-elsewhere.jpg\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"stack jsx-2509706801 jsx-3630940851\"><span class=\"stack jsx-2959124702 jsx-702910195 author-sign-off-header\">Tom Phillips<\/p>\n<p>News Editor<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"stack jsx-2509706801 jsx-1220387432\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"author-sign-off-socials\" class=\"jsx-2877214176 author-sign-off-socials\"><button type=\"button\" aria-haspopup=\"listbox\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-label=\"View social links\" class=\"jsx-2877214176 socials-trigger\"><span title=\"X\" class=\"jsx-2877214176 social-icon-avatar\"><span class=\"ign-icon jsx-2877214176 jsx-2750866048 jsx-2788214270\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"jsx-2877214176\"><\/span><\/span><span title=\"Bluesky\" class=\"jsx-2877214176 social-icon-avatar\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ign-icon jsx-2877214176 jsx-2750866048 jsx-2788214270\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"jsx-2877214176\" alt loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/Bluesky.d8b4aa9b.svg?cors=0\"><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"interface jsx-1132626198 sign-off-text\">\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Tom Phillips is IGN&#8217;s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/span><\/section>\n<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fable-developer-explains-why-xbox-protected-the-project-over-its-long-development-cycle-amid-layoffs-and-studio-closures-elsewhere-1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fable-developer-explains-why-xbox-protected-the-project-over-its-long-development-cycle-amid-layoffs-and-studio-closures-elsewhere-1.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fable-developer-explains-why-xbox-protected-the-project-over-its-long-development-cycle-amid-layoffs-and-studio-closures-elsewhere-1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fable-developer-explains-why-xbox-protected-the-project-over-its-long-development-cycle-amid-layoffs-and-studio-closures-elsewhere-1.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-14212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-49","tag-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14212"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14214,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14212\/revisions\/14214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}