Peter Molyneux's new game shares more than just the Albion name with Xbox's RPG - playtesters apparently said "Oh my god, I'm playing Fable"

RESIZED fable 4 screenshots
(Image credit: Playground Games/Microsoft)

Playtesters apparently think Peter Molyneux's new game has a lot in common with his old one: Fable.

Peter Molyneux's upcoming Masters of Albion mixes all of his greatest hits into one god game stew, from Dungeon Keeper to Black & White's ab𒈔ility to reach out into the world with a giant꧋, physical hand to either place buildings or literally make sandwiches or shake villagers about until their brains scramble. Then you can zoom right into the world with a possession ability that lets you see the world through the eyes of a hero or even a chicken.

But Molyneux entered into a bit of a legal grey area when he said Masters of Albion both is and isn't set iꦉn the same Albion as Fable - a fairytale series he originally directed, of course, but is still owned by Xbox - since he didn't "really kn﷽ow" what the rights situation looked like.

Mol💃yneux has now invoked Fable's name again in an interview with . The famed, sometimes infamous director said his new game takes inspiration from his classic RPG series as "the entire narrative, the entire world, the openness of the world☂, the freedom which Fable gave you as a play, absolutely is embraced."

Going one step further, while speaking about recent Masters of Albion playtests, Molyneux revealed that the "first thing that came back is 'oh my god, I'm playing Fable.'" Perhaps realizing he shared too🌟 much, he even added that he probably "shouldn't say any of this stuff."

For what it's worth, at least one copyright lawyer said that Albion, the🅘 blanket historical setting, can't be tr💛ademarked. Essentially, Masꦫters of Albion won't run into legal issues as long as it doesn't use material that's obviously Fable-y (the Hero's Guild, certain character names, etc) because Albion is simply another word for ancient England, also used in games like Albion Online, most notably, and you obviously can't trademark real world locat꧟ions.

That should all explain why Molyneux was so quick to backtrack on the Fable comparisons later in the i🌸ntಌerview: "That's what they said when they first started playing it," he continued. "And then they said, 'no no, it doesn't remind me of Fable, it reminds me of Black & White.' It is a blend."

You can check out Masters of Albion's and decide for y꧃ourself how simi🔯lar it is.

"We would look at all the American RPGs and the JRPGs at the time and just go, 'Right, if they're doing it, we're not": Peter Molyneux and John McCormack talk the development of Fable 20 years on

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and t🎉his one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and F🍌ilm Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

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