In 2020, Xbox announced that a new Fable was in development at Playground Games, as a new team was spun out of the studio known for the Forza Horizon series of racing games. Obviously, that is a very intriguing combination. It will be Playground's first non-racing game, not to mention the return of one of Xbox's most beloved franchises. Information has been scant, however, as the game's still early in development. That's why a job shift from Cyberpunk 2077 dev CD Projekt Red to Playground is worth drawing attention to.
Paweł Kapała is now confirmed to have been hired by Playground Games for the role of Principal Gameplay Designer. Listed on Kapała's LinkedIn account, he writes that he's responsible for "Designing and implementing Combat in Fable." Clearly, that is a very large role to fill, regardless of the employee's experience. After all, a new hire taking responsibility for a new Fable game's combat system is a lot of responsibility.
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It seems like Playground Games took hiring for the position very seriously, however, because Kapała has some legitimate experience behind him. Kapała's previous work was with CD Projekt Red, where he held the role of Senior Gameplay Designer. Kapała started with CD Projekt Red in 2014, just ahead of the release of The Witcher 3, where he worked on enemies, encounters, and AI. From 2019, he worked on Cyberpunk 2077's melee and firearms combat systems, as well as balancing the game's weapons.
Obviously, it's impossible to draw any specific conclusions from a key Cyberpunk 2077 combat designer now designing combat for Fable, but it does raise an eyebrow. After all, it's rumored that the new Fable will feature both first and third-person perspectives, so Kapała's first-person Cyberpunk 2077 design experience could be directly applicable to Fable. It's also rumored that the new Fable won't feature guns, though it could feature bows and spells. As such, it is easy to imagine how a senior combat designer taking their experience from a massive game like Cyberpunk 2077 and bringing it to a franchise like Fable could be beneficial.
One possible assumption worth making is that Playground's plans for Fable are going to be much more complex and mature than past games in the franchise. The original Fable games had a relatively straightforward system for combat and skill progression. Kapała's capable of much more, which would align with the more mature presentation showcased in Fable's announcement trailer.
It's ultimately going to be some time before gamers get to see what Playground is putting together with its new Fable game. Expectations are very high for the franchise reboot, though, especially from a studio like Playground that's known for exceptional games. Bringing in Cyberpunk 2077's combat designer may prove somewhat controversial, but it is also evident that Playground is taking the project seriously.
Fable is in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
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Source: LinkedIn
