Microsoft has delayed its upcoming fantasy role-playing game (RPG) Fable from its planned 2025 release window to 2026, with the news coinciding with the release of brand new pre-alpha footage of the game.
Head of Xbox Game Studios Craig Duncan broke the news during an interview on the official Xbox Podcast, reassuring fans that the game would “definitely [be] worth the wait”. Check out the podcast below, which covers Fable’s delay at its 14-minute mark, alongside other upcoming Xbox games like Doom: The Dark Ages, South of Midnight and Ninja Gaiden 4:
“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.” explained Duncan. Playground Games, which is known for the driving game franchise Forza Horizon, took over the reins of Fable in early 2018, framing it as a reboot of the original series by the now-defunct Lionhead Studios.
“While I know that’s not maybe the news people want to hear, what I want to assure people of is that it’s definitely worth the wait. I have unequivocal confidence in the Playground team,” he added, “just think of the visuals of what you expect of Playground games plus amazing gameplay, British humour, Playground’s version of Albion. So inspired by what’s gone before with the franchise but their take, it’s quite frankly the most beautifully realized version of Albion you’ve ever seen.”
The visual fidelity Duncan mentioned was certainly on full display throughout the brief tease of Fable’s gameplay, showing off lush greenery, bustling city streets and combat akin to that of CD Projekt RED’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, combining melee combat with a variety of weapons with magic against man and beast alike. In true Fable fashion, the compiled gameplay footage courtesy of IGN also reveals the return of chicken kicking, a hilarious ode to a franchise staple now in all its current-gen glory.
Originally announced during Xbox Games Showcase 2020 as a “new beginning” for the series, information on the Fable reboot was sparse in the following years, with its first in-game cinematic trailer starring The IT Crowd’s Richard Ayoade shown during the Xbox Games Showcase 2023, alongside a more substantial teaser of the game’s story and gameplay last year.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Si Jia
