Fable has been a long time coming, with its development spanning several waves of layoffs at publisher Xbox, as well as the cancellation of high-profile projects. But the RPG’s director suggests that the RPG has been unscathed because it’s viewed as “vital to the DNA of the platform.”
A new interview with The Guardian really puts into perspective how long Fable has been in the works, with production apparently starting as far back as 2016. We wouldn’t see Playground Games’ reveal trailer until 2020, but even then, fans have been waiting over six years for the RPG, during which time there have been major changes at Microsoft and Xbox, as well as across the industry as a whole.
We’ve seen thousands of layoffs at the company over the last few years – only in July, a further 1,600 roles were eliminated, with another 1,600 to come throughout the 2027 fiscal year as part of what CEO Asha Sharma called “the most significant restructure in Xbox history.” A number of games have also been scrapped – last year, the Perfect Dark reboot was canceled as developer The Initiative was closed down amid a different wave of layoffs. ZeniMax Online Studios’ new MMO, Project Blackbird, was also lost at this point, which led to former Elder Scrolls Online boss Matt Firor leaving the company.
Needless to say, there’s been a lot of instability at Xbox, but thankfully, Fable is still set to release next year. “I genuinely think Fable is an important game. What has protected us over a long development cycle is that so many people within Xbox view Fable as vital to the DNA of the platform,” says Playground Games co-founder and Fable director Ralph Fulton.
“I would go a step further and say it’s important to video games as a whole,” he continues. “It offers a combination of elements that simply doesn’t exist anywhere else.”
It’s appropriate, then, that this Fable game isn’t just releasing on Xbox Series X|S and PC; it’s also coming to PS5 – a plan that’s not changed since Xbox outlined its recent plan to “reevaluate our approach to exclusivity” after its prior move to let more of its titles fly the nest to competitor platforms.
Unfortunately, the RPG was also recently delayed – avoiding GTA 6, it’ll now be launching on February 23, instead.