Report: There’s a new Fable game in the making (update)

Microsoft is making a new game in the Fable franchise, reports Eurogamer, citing multiple anonymous sources. The developer is said to be Playground Games, makers of the Forza Horizon series.

News of the franchise’s reboot comes nearly two years after the closure of Lionhead Studios, which created the Fable series. The developer closed its doors in April of 2016 after a 20-year run. Their final effort, a free-to-play multiplayer game called Fable Legends, was never completed.

Playground was founded in 2010 by a group of seasoned developers from Codemasters, Bizarre Creations, Criterion Games and others. Their first game, Forza Horizon, took the high-caliber racing simulation in an open-world direction. Its latest game, Forza Horizon 3, received both critical acclaim and commercial success. Polygon lists it among the essential titles for owners of the Xbox One.

Eurogamer said that the U.K.-based team at Playground is likely to be making a Fable-themed open-world action role-playing game. The powers that be at Microsoft, Eurogamer said, were inspired to create a single-player experience by the success of Guerrilla Games’ Horizon: Zero Dawn.

Eurogamer’s sources said the new Fable will be a reboot of sorts, since the original Fable assets were taken off the table when Lionhead was closed.

Polygon has reached out to Microsoft and Playground Games for comment.

Update: Microsoft responded to our request with a statement similar to the one given to Eurogamer, stating that “Microsoft does not comment on rumor or speculation.”