Fable is a planned 2026 action role-playing game created by Playground Games and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game takes place in the imaginary world of Albion and marks the first new entry in the series since Lionhead Studios released Fable: The Journey in 2012. It is expected to be available on PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S during Fall 2026.
Development of Fable started after Lionhead Studios closed in early 2016, which led to the cancellation of Fable Legends. Rumors about a new game began in 2017 and became more popular after official confirmation at the Xbox Games Showcase in 2020.
Gameplay
Fable is a game where players control a character they can customize. The character fights enemies using different types of combat, such as close-up fighting with swords, shooting with bows, and casting magic spells. Players can switch between these fighting styles during battles and use targeting features to choose which enemies to attack.
The game allows players to interact with other characters in the world using the controller. Choices made during these interactions affect how other characters view the player and how townspeople react. Beyond fighting and completing tasks, players can explore the world by building homes, owning multiple houses, and forming relationships, including romantic ones. A morality system returns in the game, where the actions players witness and their reputation influence how characters in the world behave, the story's direction, and the player's experience.
The game’s design focuses on letting players make choices and explore freely. Players can move through the world of Albion without needing to follow a strict timeline, but the story still has important events tied to the hero’s journey and the world. The game includes more than 1,000 unique characters, each with their own voice, and every house in the game can be entered.
Plot
The game Fable starts with the player character as a child living in a place called Albion. The character finds special abilities early in life. Later, the story skips ahead in time, and players take control of the adult hero in their village, Briar Hill. A mysterious stranger turns the hero’s grandmother and the village into stone, causing the hero to leave and search for answers.
Players can explore different areas of the game world, including villages in the south and regions in the north. Important places include the capital city, Bowerstone, which has Fairfax Castle and the Heroes’ Guild. The Heroes’ Guild is an important location early in the story. The game’s setting is described as a fairy tale world, not a typical fantasy game. This version of Fable does not continue the story from earlier games, but it includes some ideas from the original background and the concept of Albion. The choices players make influence their relationships with other characters, the story’s ending, and how the world reacts to the hero’s actions.
Development
In April 2016, Microsoft closed Lionhead Studios, the company that originally created the Fable series. The last game made by Lionhead was Fable: The Journey (2012), a Kinect-based game for the Xbox 360. After Lionhead closed, the Fable series was paused, and the planned game Fable Legends was canceled. In April 2017, Phil Spencer, the Head of Xbox, said the Fable series had "a lot of places it could go" in the future.
Playground Games, the studio that developed Forza Horizon 3 (2016), wanted to create new games beyond the Forza series. According to Playground Games’ general manager, Ralph Fulton, the studio had skills in designing open-world games, technology, and streaming that could be used for other projects. In 2017, Playground Games formed a new team to work on a Fable project. In early 2018, Eurogamer reported that Playground Games had started developing the fourth Fable game. That year, the studio also announced it was hiring 177 people for an open-world role-playing game. In June 2018, Playground Games was officially bought by Xbox Game Studios.
Playground Games decided to restart the Fable series with a new title simply called Fable, rather than Fable 4. The studio believed it would not be true to the original Fable games if they continued Lionhead’s work, as Playground had a different culture and approach. Instead, Playground created a new story set in the world of Albion, not continuing the original characters or timeline. In 2019, Forbes shared a leaked video of Fable ahead of E3. In July 2020, the game was officially announced at the Xbox Games Showcase as a "new beginning" for the series.
In December 2020, Anna Megill, a former developer from Remedy Entertainment, became the lead writer for Fable. She was later promoted to narrative lead in July 2021. The game uses ForzaTech, an engine developed by Turn 10 Studios, which is also used in multiple Forza games. In October 2022, Andrew Walsh, a senior writer for Horizon Forbidden West, joined the Fable team. Playground Games aimed to keep the British humor from the original Fable games, drawing inspiration from British comedies like Peep Show, The IT Crowd, and The Office.
By March 2023, the game was in the early stages of full production. On June 11, 2023, Playground Games showed the first in-game trailer of Fable at the Xbox Games Showcase, featuring actor Richard Ayoade as a giant. On June 9, 2024, Playground Games confirmed that Eidos-Montréal was helping develop Fable. During the 2024 Xbox Showcase, actor/comedian Matt King was revealed to be playing Humphry, a retired hero of Albion who helps the player. In April 2026, Microsoft Gaming EVP and CCO Matt Booty confirmed that Blizzard Entertainment was supporting Fable’s art and cinematics.
Marketing and release
Fable was first introduced during the Xbox Showcase in 2020, at the same time as the Xbox Series X/S console was revealed. The game’s first trailer showing gameplay was released in June 2023. On June 9, 2024, Playground Games announced the game would be released in 2025 for Xbox Series X/S and Windows. On February 25, 2025, Craig Duncan, leader of Xbox Game Studios, said the release date was moved to 2026.
On January 8, 2026, Xbox announced that Fable would be shown at the Xbox Developer Direct event on January 22, 2026, where Playground Games would share details about the gameplay. It was also announced that the game would be released at the same time on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows in Fall 2026. Fable will be available on Game Pass from the first day it is released.