The reboot of the classic early 2000s Xbox series Fable has officially been delayed to 2026 from its expected release window of 2025. Speaking on the latest episode of the Official Xbox Podcast, Head of Xbox Game Studios Craig Duncan assured fans that Fable is "definitely worth the wait."

“I just want to start with, really excited about progress,” Duncan began. “Really excited about where Playground are. We previously announced the date for Fable as 2025. We are actually going to give Fable more time, and it’s going to ship in 2026 now."

Duncan also revealed 50 seconds of pre-alpha gameplay footage. While the footage is brief, it shows us some exploration of the world and combat with a few different weapons and enemy types.

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Fable, formerly developed by Peter Molyneux's Lionhead Studios, is now being developed by Playground Games, developer of the Forza Horizon series. Playground's Fable was originally announced back in 2020 (though rumours of its development date back to 2018), but we've seen relatively little of it for a game with such a long development time. The first full trailer wasn't released until 2023, which was mostly a cinematic trailer. Another trailer was released in 2024 that first revealed the expected 2025 release window.

 

[OilFreak]

Here before the "HAR HAR PETER MOLYNEUX LIAR AAA BAD" mob gets in
You all can be such single celled organisms sometimes

 

[BigOnYa]

Damn, I was looking forward to that game this year, oh well, better to have it polished.

 

[Axido]

Here before the "HAR HAR PETER MOLYNEUX LIAR AAA BAD" mob gets in
You all can be such single celled organisms sometimes

That dude isn't even involved, so wth are you even talking about? You dragged that dipshit into this conversation for no reason, so... thanks for reminding me to hate on him.

 

[JaNDeRPeiCH]

Tiziano Ferro will "enjoy" so much with this game.

This not my type of game so i pass.

 

[tech3475]

Here before the "HAR HAR PETER MOLYNEUX LIAR AAA BAD" mob gets in
You all can be such single celled organisms sometimes

Ironically I wasn't even thinking about the guy until you mentioned him.

Actually, I'm now wondering whether they'll integrate some of the things he lied about into this, such as planting a Tree seed.

 

[CoolMe]

Looks like they didn't go with the pre-established art-style of the first 3 games this time around, that said im really liking what im seeing..

 

[K3Nv3]

The fable turned long

 

[Robert Newbie]

I think the original came out at the ideal time, when the OG Xbox needed some killer apps. I have to admit that I only played a small amount of the original. Like, I never made it out of the child phase. It's been a long time, since I've thought about this series.

I've really been on the outside looking in, but I recall Fable 2 not gaining much traction, and Fable 3 wasn't mentioned much after its release. Fable fans, report in.

 

[Bladexdsl]

the reboot no one wants

 

[linuxares]

the reboot no one wants

Say you.

I wouldn't mind an updated Fable.

 

[ZeroFX]

Delay it to feb 31 to be safe.

 

[CoolMe]

the reboot no one wants

a typical Bladexdsl reply no one wants

 

[SavageNoble]

If it's gonna be good, take as much as you need.

 

[The Catboy]

Hopefully they use this time to make it look less underwhelming

 

[Lumpofcoal]

Hmm, didn't expect it to still be at pre-alpha after so long. I was expecting it to be at beta by now. To me, that's a sign of potential development hell which could have an impact on the final product.

 

[FFTW]

As a big Fable fan this looks to me far more like The Witcher: Now With Chicken Kicking than Fable. I am not impressed at all with this trailer. Hopefully the full game will be far closer to Fable's soul than this trailer leads us to believe.

 

[Xzi]

now being developed by Playground Games, developer of the Forza Horizon series

Ah...maybe not the best studio to develop an RPG then, Microsoft? What's been shown so far is not at all appealing to me.

 

[LagunaLoire88]

Hmm, didn't expect it to still be at pre-alpha after so long. I was expecting it to be at beta by now. To me, that's a sign of potential development hell which could have an impact on the final product.

It is delayed to the change of political climate and microsoft having bad sales and people cancelling the game pass memberships and more bad to average games to game pass only coiming to game pass. This has to do good otherwise it will be another death to the studios, also investors are now losing confidence with microsoft as they are seeing no growth for over a year.

 

[HinaNaru Cutie]

so the burnt butthole is being delayed until next year - thats good news c: i am hoping it never releases, woke garbage.