Playground Games

Playground Games is the Leamington Spa studio behind Forza Horizon, owned by Microsoft since 2018, and a separate, newly formed team there is developing Fable, led by GM and Game Director Ralph Fulton.

10:01 Playground Games is the British studio in Leamington Spa that makes Forza Horizon and is developing Fable with a separate, newly formed team; Microsoft has owned it since 2018, and Xbox Game Studios publishes its games. In the Developer_Direct of Jan 22, 2026, the studio says it has "built a pedigree for beautiful immersive open-world experiences" that have "typically involved sports cars", that Fable is "a passion project", and that its team was "built from scratch" by people with "a deep love for the franchise and a burning desire to bring it back".

Quick facts

Based in	Leamington Spa, England
Known for	Forza Horizon
Owner	Microsoft, since Jun 10, 2018 (Xbox Wire)
Fable team	A newly formed team, separate from Forza Horizon (Xbox Wire)
Fable's GM and Game Director	Ralph Fulton
Engine	ForzaTech (Wikidata)
Since Sep 22, 2026	One studio with Turn 10 for Forza and Fable (Xbox Wire)
Website	playground-games.com/game/fable

The studio

Playground made its name with the Forza Horizon open-world racing games for Xbox. On Jun 10, 2018, Xbox announced that Playground had joined Microsoft Studios, saying the studio would bring its open-world expertise to "an entirely new project": that project became Fable, announced in July 2020. Fable is Playground's first game that is not a racing game, and its "first open-world action RPG", as the studio calls it in the Developer_Direct. The game's history is on Development.

The Fable team

Playground built a new team for Fable, separate from the Forza Horizon team (Xbox Wire, and the official FAQ). The people who have spoken for it on the record:

Ralph Fulton, GM and Game Director, Fable's public face since the Developer_Direct (PlayStation Blog).
Will Kennedy, Associate Game Director, who wrote the combat post on the PlayStation Blog.
Craig Littler, Associate Game Director, who presented the villagers' daily schedules at the Developer_Direct, as CGMagazine reported it (some reports spell it Little).
Dan Greer, Lead Game Designer, who explained the Living Population on Xbox Wire.
Craig Owens, Associate Narrative Director, who introduced the cast on Xbox Wire.
Jacob Shea, the composer (official site).

Eidos Montreal, another studio, supports the work (Xbox Wire, Jun 9, 2024).

From Forza Horizon to Fable

Fable runs on ForzaTech, Playground's engine from Forza Horizon. Fulton told GamesRadar+ that the world of Forza Horizon "is experienced at up to 250 miles an hour" while "in Fable, we move at the speed of a horse", so every building, field and face can be seen up close; he called Albion "100% the most richly detailed world we've ever built".

40:43 Digital Foundry's DF Direct Weekly of Jun 15, 2026 raised the obvious worry, that Forza Horizon has "amazing looking cars" but weak characters and that Playground had never shown it could render people well, and concluded that the Fable footage "obviously puts that to bed": the characters "look excellent".

Playground and Turn 10

On Sep 22, 2026, Matt Booty, Xbox's Chief Content Officer, wrote that "Playground and Turn 10 will come together as one studio focused on the Forza and Fable franchises." Turn 10 is the studio behind Forza Motorsport. The memo did not change Fable's date of Feb 23, 2027 (Release Date and Time).

Frequently asked questions

Who is making Fable? Fable is made by Playground Games, the Forza Horizon studio in Leamington Spa, England, with a newly formed team led by GM and Game Director Ralph Fulton, and published by Xbox Game Studios.

Is Playground Games owned by Microsoft? Yes. Playground Games has been part of Microsoft (Xbox Game Studios) since Jun 10, 2018.

Is the Forza Horizon team making Fable? No. Playground built a separate, new team for Fable; the Forza Horizon games are made by a different team at the same studio.

Who is the director of Fable? Ralph Fulton is Fable's GM and Game Director at Playground Games, with Will Kennedy as Associate Game Director.

Did Playground Games merge with Turn 10? Xbox said on Sep 22, 2026 that Playground and Turn 10 "will come together as one studio focused on the Forza and Fable franchises"; Fable's Feb 23, 2027 date did not change.