Fable is a fantasy action role-playing game series first created by Lionhead Studios and later developed by Playground Games. The series is owned and published by Xbox Game Studios. Set in the fictional land of Albion, the games focus on player choices, systems that show how decisions affect the story, and a humorous, fairy-tale-like style inspired by British folklore. Each main game follows different heroes across Albion’s history, showing how the world changes over time, from a medieval-style society to an industrialized nation. In addition to fighting and completing quests, players can also manage property, build relationships, raise families, trade items, and interact with other characters.
The series began with Fable (2004) for the original Xbox, followed by Fable II (2008) and Fable III (2010). After Lionhead Studios closed in 2016, Playground Games revived the series and announced a new version in 2020. A new Fable game is planned for release in 2026. The franchise has also grown to include spin-off games, mobile and arcade versions, a collectible card game, and a novel called Fable: The Balverine Order. Other projects include promotional materials and collaborations with other games.
Setting
The Fable series is set in a fictional country called Albion. At the time of the first game, Albion is made up of many independent cities and large areas of wild, open land. The setting looks like Medieval Britain with some European influences. The name Albion is an old name for Great Britain that is still used today. As the games progress, the time period changes. In Fable II, Albion is in an era similar to the Age of Enlightenment, a time of new ideas and scientific discoveries. By Fable III, Albion has become a unified country ruled by a king and is going through an "Age of Industry," similar to the real-world 18th-19th-century Industrial Revolution.
In the first Fable, players control a boy who becomes a hero after bandits attack his village, kill his father, and take his sister. The choices players make in the game influence how other characters in Albion view the hero and change the hero’s appearance to reflect their actions. In addition to the main story about the hero’s family, players can complete optional tasks, such as trading, building relationships, exploring, playing games, boxing, and stealing.
Fable II takes place 500 years after the first game. The world looks like Europe during the late 1600s and early 1700s, a time of highwaymen and new ideas. Science and modern thinking have replaced older beliefs in magic and religion. Towns have grown into cities, weapons use gunpowder, and life offers more opportunities and challenges. Fable II expands on many aspects of the first game without changing the basic way it is played. The world of Albion is larger, but there are fewer places to visit, and the ones that remain are more detailed. Unlike Fable I, the story in Fable II is shaped by the player’s actions and the time and place they are in, making the game feel more interactive.
Fable III is set 50 years after Fable II. Albion has advanced further in history, with an Industrial Revolution taking place and society resembling the early 1800s. In all versions of the game, the hero’s choices between good and bad actions are central to the story. In Fable III, these choices are expanded to include personal and psychological growth, as well as political goals. The main objective is to overthrow the king of Albion and protect the country from outside attacks.
Gameplay
The Fable video game series creates a story where the player controls a main character. The character's growth depends on how they interact with the game world, especially through activities like talking, telling stories, learning, trading, playing games, forming relationships, and fighting.
Players can improve the character's abilities in areas such as magic, strength, and social skills. They also decide whether the character acts in a good or bad way, allowing skills to develop in both positive and negative directions.
Some versions of the game include specific missions that help the character grow and reveal parts of the game's story.
Fable II and Fable III allow two players to work together, each controlling their own character to complete tasks.
History
The first game in the Fable series was introduced in 2001 by Lionhead Studios. Peter Molyneux, a lead designer and co-founder of Lionhead, said the game would offer a unique experience and change the role-playing game genre. Fable was released for Xbox on September 14, 2004. At first, the game received poor reviews because many of Molyneux’s promises about its features were not met. He later apologized, which led to more media attention.
Despite interest from large companies like Electronic Arts, Lionhead faced financial challenges due to high development costs and overestimated sales of the original game. To secure more funding, Lionhead partnered with Microsoft Game Studios. An expanded version, Fable: The Lost Chapters, was released for Windows and Xbox in September 2005. Feral Interactive later released a Mac version on March 31, 2008. This version included new content and, with Microsoft’s support, became a critical and commercial success.
Fable II was released for Xbox 360 on October 24, 2008. It also achieved success. It included a tie-in game called Fable II Pub Games for Xbox Live Arcade and an online flash game, Fable: A Hero’s Tale, which allowed players to unlock a secret chest in the main game.
Fable III was released for Xbox 360 on October 29, 2010, and for Windows on March 17, 2011. It included a phone game called Fable Coin Golf.
Fable Heroes, a multiplayer family-friendly beat-em-up game, was released for Xbox Live Arcade on May 2, 2012. Though it differed from earlier games in the series and received mixed reviews, it remained popular among fans for including elements from previous titles.
Fable: The Journey, a spin-off game using the Kinect attachment for Xbox 360, was released in October 2012 in North America and Europe. Peter Molyneux left Lionhead Studios in 2012.
In February 2014, Lionhead released a remake of the original Fable, including The Lost Chapters, called Fable Anniversary. It received mixed reviews. A compilation called Fable Trilogy, which included Fable Anniversary, Fable II, and Fable III, was also released in February 2014.
Fable-themed card games were added to the Microsoft Solitaire Collection for PC on March 4, 2014. A Fable Anniversary theme was later included in the Microsoft Jigsaw collection.
In August 2013, Lionhead released a teaser for Fable Legends, an Xbox One game set in the "Age of Heroes" era before the first game. The trailer showed players could choose to be the hero or villain and play with four others. Microsoft canceled the project in March 2016, and Lionhead closed shortly after.
In May 2016, former Lionhead developers started a Kickstarter campaign to fund Fable Fortune, a free-to-play collectible card game. The game was released for Xbox One in February 2018.
In January 2018, rumors suggested Playground Games was developing a new Fable game. The studio hired 177 people for an open-world role-playing game. During the Xbox Games Showcase in July 2020, a new Fable game was announced for Xbox Series X/S and Windows, with an unspecified release date. It will use the ForzaTech engine. Eidos-Montréal joined as a co-developer in November 2021. By March 2023, the game was in early production. A first in-game trailer featuring actor Richard Ayoade was shown in June 2023, followed by another in July 2024 with actor Matt King.
The game was originally planned for 2025, but in February 2025, Microsoft moved the release to 2026 to improve quality and fix technical issues. Rumors suggested the delay allowed the game to launch on PlayStation 5, but Microsoft denied these claims.
On January 8, 2026, Xbox announced a deep-dive presentation on January 23, 2026. During the event, Playground Games confirmed the game will release simultaneously on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows in autumn 2026. This will be the first Fable game to launch on non-Xbox consoles and a PlayStation console.
Novel
Fable: The Balverine Order is a fantasy novel written by Peter David as part of the Fable series. The book was published in North America and Europe in October 2010. It included a special code that allowed readers to unlock a unique weapon in Fable III.
The story is told from the perspective of a king in an unknown country who listens to an unnamed storyteller in the Fable universe. The events take place between Fable II and Fable III. The main plot follows Thomas Kirkman, a wealthy young man whose mother’s death leads him on a journey to find a balverine. His servant, James Skelton, is a child from a large poor family. Together, the two friends travel through dangerous areas to search for a balverine responsible for killing Thomas’s brother, Stephen.