Key Highlights:
- Fable (also known as Fable 4) releases worldwide in 2026.
- The series has quickly grown to become one of the more underappreciated RPGs in the Xbox library.
- There will be an Xbox Developer Direct scheduled for January 22, 2026 which will be focused on the game.
The upcoming Fable is essentially the fourth entry in the series, and looks to be a new dawn for the franchise, bringing it into the modern era. The game was teased to be in development years ago, and its release is now long overdue.
There’s a lot riding on the release of Fable, and perhaps even Playground Games as well. The series has always been had a special place in the hearts of many players who grew up in the Xbox 360 era, and now’s a good time as any to jump into its development cycle and history.
The Long History of the Fable Series
The Fable series started back in September 2004, as an original Xbox exclusive and a rather stellar role playing game. The premise involves a fantasy setting within the city of Albion, with an emphasis on storytelling and the possibility of multiple choices to an encounter, in true RPG fashion.
Each game so far has followed the exploits of a young adventurer as they make their mark on the world, and fight against evil. The real beauty is in how Fable handles the whole good versus evil narrative though.
The game makes players take the hard decisions, and each choice has a lasting impact on your walkthrough, which is accompanied by physical changes to your character’s appearance and having NPCs react differently to you.
The first game was often described as being incomplete, and that remains true. While Fable 1 promised the stars, it never managed to quite reach there, with many pointing out to its serious lack of content and unfulfilled promises.
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The team did manage to release an extended version in the form of Fable: The Lost Chapters later on, after being signed on with Microsoft Game Studios. This re-release was a massive critical and commercial success.
This was followed by the eventual release of Fable II and Fable III, with the third entry being released in October 2010. Both games were immensely popular, and garnered critical acclaim. It was basically a reworked and even further refined Fable, and did well commercially too.
Unfortunately, the series fell into a steep decline soon after, with then developers Lionhead Studios teasing a return with Fable Legends, an Xbox One exclusive title set before the events of the first game; which was canned shortly afterward.
Many spinoffs and years of silence later, we finally arrive to the rumors of a new Fable reboot being produced by Playground Games (of Forza Horizon fame) back in 2018. The game was revealed during the Xbox Games Showcase in July 2020, before being ultimately delayed to its now 2026 release window.
Why Fable (2026) Makes Sense
Fable is pretty much a do or die moment for Microsoft (more specifically, Xbox). Xbox has long lost the console war, and its only saving grace is the exclusives to long forgotten franchises that it still holds.
The game is not only something that the Fable community has been looking forward to for quite some time, but also Playground Games’ chance to prove themselves.
The internet has been very sceptical of the remake, and for good reason; given its massively delayed schedule, among other things.
If Xbox manages to fumble this yet again there will be even more reason to distrust the brand, and they’ve had a pretty poor track record as of late.
We’ll likely have more to see in the Xbox Developer Direct scheduled for January 22, 2026, which has been confirmed to be focused around Fable. Perhaps even a release date might be in order.
