In late February, Xbox Studios head Craig Duncan revealed to fans that Fable would be missing its 2025 launch window. He did so while reassuring them with a new, gorgeous Pre-Alpha gameplay video that promised everything was in order except for the additional polish required before shipping the game.
However, according to insider Shpeshal Nick, there's a chance Fable might miss 2026, too. In the latest episode of the XboxEra podcast, he relayed information from two sources that suggested a delay is not out of the question:
I don't think Fable's next year. My information is that it's not going to be 2026. I've heard it from two different people now that Fable may slip to 2027. And that's not doom and gloom, oh, there's something wrong with the game. Problems. Just hearing that it's taking a little bit longer than they expected.
It's not about agreeing or disagreeing, I've had two different people tell me. One of them wasn't from Microsoft. I'm hearing that it's probably going to slip to 2027. Don't get me wrong, I'm well aware of what will probably happen now. Someone from Playground will probably come out and go, "No, no, it's next year."
While Shpeshal Nick got a few Xbox rumors right before, he doesn't exactly have a spotless record, either. As such, take it with a grain of salt.
If it turned out to be the case, though, it would be another blow to Microsoft's reputation. Fans are already disgruntled after the cancellation of the Perfect Dark reboot and the ZeniMax Online Studios MMORPG, not to mention the related layoffs. Moreover, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer promised that the twenty-fifth anniversary of Xbox, due to take place next year, would be celebrated with the return of several historic franchises, including Fable, Forza, Gears of War, and another that might be Halo.
Going back on that promise wouldn't work in Microsoft's favor. At the same time, rushing a game that is not ready wouldn't be great, either. But Playground Games has reportedly been working on the game for around eight years now, and while it is understandable that it would take them a while to get a grip on the action RPG genre (they only ever did racing games before), making that a full ten years to 2027 would be too much. They even got help from Eidos Montréal, as announced in June 2024, although a recent report from the Canadian studio suggests their part of the work on Fable might have been completed.
Even without Fable, Microsoft could still have a decent first-party lineup in 2026 between Clockwork Revolution, the new Forza game, Gears of War: E-Day, and the rumored Halo: Combat Evolved remake, not to mention what Bethesda and Activision Blizzard may have in store for next year. Even so, it would be another blow for the Xbox division in the eyes of fans.
We'll update this story if anyone from Playground Games and/or Microsoft wishes to comment on the rumor.
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