While Playground's Fable looks a little "antiseptic," series creator Peter Molyneux will be "one of the first people to play it"

Just before my interview with Peter Molyneux, I told my mom that I was chatting to 'the man who made Fable.' "Oh, is that the one where you did the little Cossack Dance?!" she asked, referring to Fable 2. "You loved that game!" While I've built my career on titles like Diablo, League of Legends, and Vampire: The Masquerade, Fable is, perhaps, the series I played most as a child. I loved its zany energy: its stiff-upper-lip comedy, and vibrant, ye olde English world. I spent many a Friday night playing poker at the Temple of Shadows (in my imagination, anyway), and chickens were never safe when I was in town. The games amplified my already undying love for fantasy, and are the source of so many of my happiest memories. Speaking to Molyneux, then, is something childhood me could only have dreamed of.

While our conversation largely revolved around Masters of Albion, Molyneux's upcoming god game, we eventually wrapped back around to Fable. Playground Games' reboot is set to drop in fall 2026, and after months of radio silence, January gifted us with our first real look at its gameplay. While I not exactly in love with its new morality and reputation system, its sprawling fantasy world, quirky humor, and chicken kicking certainly capture the feel of Lionhead's genre-defining RPGs. Am I 100% convinced? Not quite yet: the proof is in the playing.

But we haven't heard much from Molyneux on the game's reboot: the focus has very much been on Masters of Albion. I ask what he thinks of the latest gameplay footage, and whether or not this was the direction he'd have taken the franchise in if he was still at its (lion)head.

"I'm an emotionally-driven person; I cry easily, Lauren," Molyneux says. "Even kids' programs can tear me up. When I saw the trailer, I was just incredibly emotional because I thought 'wow, this thing that we spent so much time on has got new life - it's going to continue and entertain and bring joy to people.' That was my overall emotion, and I was incredibly proud that something that we created all those years ago has a life in today's world.

"I thought that the world that [Playground has] created looked faithful to Fable," he continues. "They've really embraced the humor aspect, they've embraced some of the freedom that they allow the players: those are all positives. The only slight negative that I have is that there was a slightly antiseptic feel about the world. Fable was set in an 'Olde England' Albion where everything was not clean and well-defined. It was dirty and ridiculous and the characters went around with massive gloves and big shoes: it was stupid and ridiculous; it wasn't realistic. For me, that dirt and lack of cleanliness actually added to the character of the overall game.

"But, I can assure you, one of the first people to play that game will be me, and I'm sure that I'll enjoy it. It's very tough taking on someone else's IP and remaining faithful to it, so hats off to them, and I wish them all the luck with their autumn release."

In many ways Fable is another Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. It's a childhood staple getting a modern reboot that I feel truly could go either way. While I'm tentatively positive about Fable, I've been let down before: my Bloodlines 2 review can attest to that. Playground Games has to strike that perfect balance of comedy and exploration, and a solid cast will go a long way, too. I just hope that this reboot can become a modern classic in the same way that the original games did; I want it to etch itself into my soul all over again.