Blizzard is assisting with Fable’s cinematics, while the Sea of Thieves team is lending its expertise to quirky pottery brawler Kiln

Xbox’s internal studio collaboration system is expanding, with multiple Microsoft-owned development teams lending their expertise to upcoming projects. Most notably, Blizzard’s renowned cinematics team is assisting Playground Games on the forthcoming Fable reboot, bringing their acclaimed expertise from franchises like Diablo and Overwatch. The high-quality cinematics are already visible in pre-release trailers featuring actor Richard Ayoade introducing the game’s world.

Beyond Fable, Xbox’s studio ecosystem demonstrates broader cross-development support. Rare, the studio behind Sea of Thieves, is contributing its expertise to Double Fine’s upcoming quirky multiplayer pottery brawler, Kiln. Additionally, The Coalition, known for its extensive Unreal Engine experience through years of work on the Gears of War franchise, has been assisting inXile Entertainment.

Xbox’s chief content officer Matt Booty highlighted this collaborative approach during the Official Xbox Podcast, describing the company’s philosophy as a “culture of cultures.” Rather than operating in isolation, each studio leverages the specialized knowledge and technical expertise of other teams within the Xbox portfolio. This strategy allows smaller or specialized teams to benefit from AAA development experience, while larger studios can tap into niche expertise. Blizzard’s involvement with Fable’s cinematics particularly stands out, given the studio’s historical reputation for producing premium-quality in-game cinematics that have become industry benchmarks.

Blizzard is assisting with Fable’s cinematics, while the Sea of Thieves team is lending its expertise to quirky pottery brawler Kiln

Sources