The Art of Fable Legends: An Artbook for a Cancelled Game
- The Artbook Collector
- 7 days ago
- 7 min read
April 23rd 2025
Artbooks often give fans a look at the development for the designs you see on screen, from early sketches to the finished piece, but can also offer a glimpse at what didn’t get used at all. These insights can be the most interesting part of an artbook, to see what could have been, but was left on the cutting room floor. In the case of The Art of Fable Legends though, the entire book is a rare instance of everything being unused, because the game was never officially released. This is more than just any artbook, it's a history piece of a game and studio that are no more.
Known best for the Fable series that began in 2002, but also the real-time strategy games Black and White, Lionhead Studios was a UK based team created in 1997. It was co-founded by Peter Molyneux, a somewhat polarizing name in the gaming industry, along with Mark Webley, Tim Rance and finally Steve Jackson, who also co-founded Games Workshop. Microsoft then bought the company in 2006, at a time when they were struggling financially. Sadly though, despite Fable being a big name in the industry and the studio being held in high regard, it was closed in 2016, following the cancellation of Fable Legends.
What Happened to Fable Legends?
Lionhead Studios released Fable: The Journey in 2012, a Kinect game that was given mixed reviews from critics. Even after this reception, they were committed to the franchise and development began the same year on Fable Legends. It was set to be a free-to-play online game in which 4 players work together to defeat enemies, while another acts as the villain, setting traps and placing the enemies to stop them in their path.
This was a departure from the original Fable trilogy, as those were single player role-playing games, making this a big swing. Although they had already ventured into other genres within the franchise, with the aforementioned on-the-rails Kinect game and the beat ’em up Fable Heroes, this was a bigger and more expensive project, being made with a hefty budget of $75 million dollars.
The game was officially announced in August of 2013 and its gameplay shown for the first time the following year in June. Later on, a closed beta took place in October of 2014, with the game set for release in 2015. While this was happening and as reported later on, development was not going well. Members of the team were also unhappy with the project, wanting to work on a tradition Fable game and not a multiplayer title. There were plans to make Fable 4 following the release of Legends though, giving the less enthusiastic developers some light at the end of the multiplayer tunnel to hold out for.
That tunnel proved to be longer than anticipated though, as Fable Legends was delayed into 2016. Worse yet, it didn’t take long for the devastating news of the cancellation to follow, coming in March of 2016. The beta was still running at this time, which was then closed the following month to allow the time for players to get refunds for any money spent on in-game content. The decision was made by Microsoft to cancel the game, not Lionhead Studios, who were seemingly at the mercy of their owners after being put on the multiplayer project and also the previous Kinect game, both of which were outside of their expertise. The reason for the cancellation has been reported to be a mixture of high production costs, failure to meet targets and lack of player interest, each of which alone can get a game cancelled.
Sadly for the team, the decision to cancel the game came hand in hand with the closure of the studio. Microsoft was making changes to its investment plans and Lionhead Studios was a victim of this shift. It remained open until the following month, due to UK law requiring a notice period, before it closed its doors for the last time in April.
The Art of Fable Legends
The artbook boom for video games started during the PS3 and Xbox 360 era and has not relented since. It is common for all big releases to come with artbooks and Fable Legends was no different. Unlike recent years, artbooks would almost always come out around the same time as the game and would be listed early for pre-orders. The Art of Fable Legends followed this trend, but was unusually stubborn with its publishing date.
While it is the norm now for an artbook to not even be announced, let alone released, until after players have got their hands on a game, there are exceptions to this. For example, The Art of Assassin’s Creed Shadows came out just days after the game, but this did mean that each time Ubisoft delayed the game, Dark Horse delayed the book. The Art of Fable Legends, published by Titan Books in this case, ignored this thinking and did not shift the date. I was one of the people that pre-ordered the book, so upon hearing the news the game had been cancelled into 2016, I was expecting the book release to move too. Its 2015 release remained unchanged though and it surprisingly did indeed ship on November 24th 2015. As is sometimes the case with Titan Books, a signed Limited Edition was also available with a slipcase.
It was a highly unusual move, selling an artbook for a game that was not available to buy is odd and comes with the risk of spoilers. The only people that could really appreciate it were the developers and those that took part in the closed beta. The book remained available too, it was never delisted or switched back to pre-order status. Little did anyone know at the time, that this was about to become an even more interesting gem in an artbook collection just months later. Fast forward to March 2016 and owners of the book not only had the art for a cancelled game, but a physical release of some of the last work ever created by Lionhead Studios.
Value and Quality
It’s very common for an artbook to become rare, they sell through their print run and leave people to deal with the sometimes predatory and volatile second hand markets. However, the strange nature of The Art of Fable Legends continued as it avoided this fate. Having been aware of the artbook, I kept my eye on the listings out of curiosity, only to find that the book was neither selling out or even holding its value. Despite the game being cancelled in part due to a lack of player interest, one would have thought that this book would be viewed as a piece of gaming history, yet it appeared to be overlooked.
It's now 2025 and the book is still available. You can buy it second hand at low prices, but more shockingly, it isn't difficult to find new copies online. In the case of Amazon UK, it is often discounted and can be bought for under £30.
As a collector and someone that now does reviews, I can say the book does a lot well too. It has some brilliant art if you like the style, with early sketches included for the characters and enemies, as well as some fantastic environment art. It has great insights from the team and a good use of space too. It does however lack artist credits on the page and some of the images could be a little smaller to fit more in, but it's a solid release overall. I'm particularly fond of the enemy art and am a fan of the style and the inclusion of early sketches. Fable always had a charm to the visual design of Albion and its inhabitants, it's style oozing with personality and a strong colour palette that avoids the browns and greys of other games in the genre. That same approach was taken with this entry, as seen on the preview pages featured here.
The comments from the team speak to the specific characters and art choices, a fascinating read knowing that it was intended for players, but is now a curtain pull on the making of an unfinished game. It features insights that include the approach to the designs for an asymmetrical game, its lore and personalities of its heroes and enemies. So many games get cancelled, Lionhead themselves had at least 12, but it's rare you can sit with information and art like this for one of them.
The Future of Fable
With Lionhead Studios gone and Microsoft still owning the IP, a fourth game is now finally happening and set for release in 2026. Playground Games is behind the development that will see the series return to its roots as an action RPG. The artbook boom of previous generations created a strong and persistent market for more of them, so there is a good chance there will be an artbook for the new game too. Microsoft and the studios it owns and works with have a good track record of creating them, including AAA games like Gears of War and Halo, but also smaller titles like Ori and the Will of the Wisps and ReCore. The Art of Fable Legends is also proof in itself of the potential for a new artbook.
Those out there with artbook collections, fans of the Fable series or an interest in unique gaming products can find The Art of Fable Legends online and add it to your shelf. The circumstances around its release are unlikely to be seen again, especially for a book that remains at a reasonable price 10 years later. Perhaps the lack of player interest was hugely understated, as what could have been a rare item can be found discounted and readily available.
Being a fan of Fable myself, I hope the series finds new life in the upcoming game and that the new art team can share their work in ‘The Art of Fable 4’.
If you are interested adding the book to your own collection, you can find copies here;
Tags; #Fable #FableLegends #TitanBooks #Xbox
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