Fable III aims for 5m sales

The creative director of Microsoft Game Studios Peter Molyneux has stated that the publisher’s forthcoming Xbox 360 RPG Fable III needs to sell 5m copies to meet internal expectations.

That figure isn’t necessarily a financial target, IGN reports, but instead relates to goals relating to gameplay changes made to the title in order to expand the appeal of the series.

Fable III has moved to completely ditch the traditional HUD (on-screen displays predicting a player’s health, weapons etc) and simplify the controls as much as possible, with combat now handled with a single button.

The first Fable on the original Xbox sold 3m copies, with the Xbox 360 sequel shifting 3.5m units. A significant improvement on these numbers is needed to justify what Molyneux himself sees as extreme design decisions.