Fable’s Development Was Helped by Blizzard’s Cinematics Team

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So, I was watching a video about how all the different studios under the Xbox umbrella are teaming up, and it’s pretty cool. Apparently, the cinematic folks over at Blizzard actually helped Playground Games with Fable! It’s not just a one-off thing either – Compulsion Games (from Montreal) used Activision’s motion capture studio, and Rare gave Double Fine a hand with the multiplayer stuff for Kiln. It’s awesome seeing all these studios working together and sharing resources.

When questioned about whether Xbox’s different game studios operated independently, Booty clarified that they didn’t. He explained his role is to help these teams connect and collaborate more efficiently.

We have many different studios, each with its own unique way of doing things, so we think of the company as a collection of cultures. A big part of my role is to create enough connection and structure between these studios so they can easily communicate and share ideas, without stifling their individual identities or trying to force them to change.

According to Booty, the team behind the cinematics for Blizzard games is now assisting with the development of Fable. Additionally, Compulsion Games, our Montreal studio, is utilizing Activision’s motion capture facilities. And the experienced multiplayer team at Rare is lending their expertise to Double Fine’s Kiln, the pottery-focused game.

Booty explained a more advanced collaboration between Undead Labs, the creators of State of Decay, and Obsidian Entertainment. While developing the survival game Grounded, Obsidian leveraged existing, complex tools and technology originally built by Undead Labs for State of Decay 2 to create its multiplayer features. Now, with Obsidian’s enhancements to that technology, Undead Labs can use those improvements when developing State of Decay 3.

He explained that the example showed how much collaboration happens between teams once they’ve established a working process.

It’s not surprising that Blizzard’s cinematic team is assisting Playground Games. Blizzard has been known for its impressive, pre-rendered cutscenes since the original Diablo 2 in 2000. While Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (2002) also showcased improvements, fans have consistently witnessed the evolution of Blizzard’s cinematic quality, especially throughout the long history of World of Warcraft.

Playground Games recently confirmed that Fable is still on track to release on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S this Fall. This confirmation comes despite speculation that the game might be delayed to avoid launching around the same time as Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 6, which is scheduled to release on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19th.

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2026-04-17 17:17