A First Glimpse at Fable’s Gameplay

Fans have been eagerly anticipating this one for quite some time. After the announcement in February 2025 that the game would be pushed back to 2026, the team behind the Fable reboot went quiet. That changed during the recent Xbox Developer Direct, where we finally got a proper glimpse of the gameplay and a release window set for autumn 2026.

The Developer Direct featured an in-depth look at the reboot from Playground Games. Studio founder and general manager Ralph Fulton shared, “Fable is Playground’s first open-world action-RPG. While this game marks a new beginning, we’re committed to staying true to the spirit of the beloved classic Lionhead trilogy.”

The showcased footage highlighted various locations players will explore, including Bowerstone, the capital city of Albion, where secrets of the Heroes Guild await discovery. Another notable area is Bloodstone, a city controlled by rival gangs.

Xbox also confirmed that players will have multiple character models to customize their warrior, featuring some amusing armor options, like a chicken costume. Once your character is ready, you can engage in different combat styles, from close-quarters melee to ranged attacks. The footage displayed our hero taking on a variety of foes from the Fable universe, including trolls, hobbes, and balvarines.

But let’s not overlook the cockatrice. This reboot introduces a massive fire-breathing chicken, which is as awesome as it sounds. While the developers mentioned its fiery breath, it didn’t unleash it during the battle we witnessed.

There’s much more to Fable than just combat, though. The presentation revealed that players can fall in love, get married, have children, purchase a house, and even buy up the entire town and its businesses. With enough wealth, it seems you could own the world, which will surely appeal to some players.

However, every action you take will influence your reputation, affecting how NPCs respond to you. Quest director Justin Schram noted, “Your reputation is shaped by the choices you make.” So, if you find that everyone despises you, there’s likely a reason behind it.

This marks the first new Fable title since 2012’s Fable: The Journey. While it received a decent reception, its reliance on Xbox Kinect technology limited its success. A cooperative Fable game was in development after The Journey but was canceled in 2016. The reboot is being developed by Playground Games, known for the Forza Horizon series. Reports of Playground working on a new Fable installment surfaced back in 2018, following the closure of original developer Lionhead Studios by Microsoft in 2016. We caught early glimpses of the game in 2023 and 2024, but this is the first real footage we’ve seen since then.

Fable will launch on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X this autumn.