Highlights

  • Fable marks a new beginning for the fantasy franchise, with Eidos Montreal assisting Playground Games in development.
  • Eidos Montreal has a strong background in narrative games, which can benefit Fable's storytelling and choice systems.
  • Fable's humor may be influenced by Eidos Montreal's work on Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, which won the 2021 Game Awards' Best Narrative trophy.

Despite being officially announced in July 2020, there's still a lot of mystery surrounding Fable. The first installment in the series since the ill-fated Kinect-exclusive Fable: The Journey, Fable marks a new beginning for the fantasy franchise, and naturally, many fans are excited. Slowly, those fans are getting better glimpses of the game Fable is shaping up to be, with two cinematic trailers having been released over the last year or so. But there's still so much fans don't know.

Of course, just like any other major modern-day game, Fable has been the subject of a few leaks and insider reports. One such report in 2022 from Bloomberg's Jason Schreier claimed that Eidos Montreal was working on the game alongside Playground, and a few weeks ago that was officially confirmed. It's unclear just how much Eidos Montreal is involved in Fable's development, but with its strong background in narrative games, it seems like the perfect studio to assist on Fable.

Varric from Dragon Age with Humphrey from Fable
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Humphry Is Fable’s Version of Dragon Age's Varric

Fable's most recent trailer introduces Humphry, a retired hero who happens to bear a striking resemblance to Dragon Age's Varric in many ways.

Eidos Montreal's Strengths Are Perfectly Suited to Fable

Eidos Montreal Has a Long History of Strong Narratives

While there's a lot of faith that Playground Games will be able to produce an excellent Fable game, the studio has never worked on a title with a strong narrative focus, with it predominantly developing the Forza Horizon series. This is where Eidos Montreal can lend a helping hand. Founded back in 2007, Eidos Montreal came out of the gate swinging with Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

The first entry in the series in almost a decade, Deus Ex: Human Revolution had a lofty legacy to live up to, with the original game being heralded as one of the most groundbreaking RPGs of all time. But against all odds, it did just that, earning critical acclaim across the board, with particular praise being given to the game's strong narrative and thought-provoking writing. Though the sequel – Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – wasn't so universally beloved, its environmental storytelling and overarching narrative structure was still a major point of praise.

Though Eidos Montreal's Shadow of the Tomb Raider was criticized for its lackluster story and unnecessary padding, the studio managed to pull itself back to its usual narrative heights with Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. Released in 2021, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is the most recent project Eidos Montreal has worked on. While its sales were deemed to be disappointing by Square Enix's standards, it reviewed very well, with its story and character-writing being a highlight yet again, so much so that it won the 2021 Game Awards' trophy for Best Narrative.

Eidos Montreal Can Deliver Strong Choice Systems

As well as having a long track record of excellent narratives, Eidos Montreal has also delivered a number of satisfying choice systems over the years. Both Deus Ex games and Guardians of the Galaxy boast complex dialogue options that can greatly affect the outcome of each game's story. While it hasn't been confirmed if Fable will have a choice system, it does seem a likely inclusion given that it's expected to be an RPG. Hopefully, Eidos Montreal will be able to lend some of its expertise in this area.

There's a Lot of Overlap Between Guardians of the Galaxy and Fable

Based on the two trailers released so far, it seems as though Fable is really leaning into the tongue-in-cheek, almost satirical humor that the series has always been known for. While Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy never got too ridiculous, it did lean into the more humorously absurd side of the cosmic Marvel universe, and that puts Eidos Montreal in a good position to help Fable with its humor.