‘Albion can’t be copyrighted’ – Peter Molyneux explains how his new game is set in the same world as Fable
Peter Molyneux has claimed that his newly announced game, Masters of Albion is set in the same world as Fable, despite being unaffiliated with Microsoft, or the Fable franchise.
Molyneux announced his new game, Masters of Albion, during Gamescom Opening Night Live on Tuesday. The game, which is being developed by ex-Fable devs as well as ex-Media Molecule boss Mark Healey, is being described as an “open-world God game,” set in the world of Albion.
Speaking to IGN, Molyneux justified using the Albion name by comparing it to setting multiple games in the same country, something that can’t be stopped by copyright.
“[It’s] like saying if you set a game in America, you can’t set any other game in America,” he says. “So Albion can’t be copyrighted. It’s the name for England and Wales and that’s how we get away with it.”
“Fable was set in Albion, Masters of Albion is set in Albion,” Molyneux clarifies.
When asked if he was sure that Albion couldn’t be copyrighted due to its historical context, he replied: “I don’t know if I’m honest, I don’t really know… I hope so. I mean you would think that the responsible person I should be, I would’ve spent the last six months in lawyers’ offices…”
Molyneux later said that while he thought his new game would be an interesting expansion on the universe, it’s very much not a new entry in Microsoft’s franchise.
“It’s not actually Fable 5 or anything like that,” he said. “But if you’ve played Fable, then definitely Masters of Albion will be familiar to you. One of the things that we have got and we absolutely wanted a nail was the humour.
“I think in the Fable games, it’s not so much about telling jokes, it’s more about giving you, the player, the ability to do ridiculous and funny things. And we’ve got that in Masters of Albion in absolute spades. I think we’re really nailing that.”
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