Xbox has confirmed that the long-awaited Fable reboot from Playground Games will launch in fall 2026 on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, PC, and Game Pass. The announcement, made during the Xbox Developer Direct on January 22, 2026, highlights a subjective morality system without character appearance changes, drawing mixed reactions from fans. This marks the series' return after Lionhead Studios' closure in 2016.
The Fable reboot, first announced in 2020, revives the action RPG franchise set in the whimsical world of Albion. Players begin as a young child who loses their family and embarks on a hero's journey filled with British humor and moral choices. Developed by Playground Games, known for the Forza Horizon series, the game emphasizes a detailed open-world map where every building is enterable, though smaller in scale than Forza's expansive environments due to the focus on foot-based exploration rather than high-speed driving.
A key change is the morality system, which abandons the binary good-evil mechanic of past titles. Instead, it adopts a subjective approach where NPCs react based on their own values and the player's reputation in specific locations. Playground founder Ralph Fulton explained to IGN: “There is no objective good and evil... You’re different things to different people based on what they like or what they value.” This eliminates physical transformations like growing horns for evil actions, allowing players to build varied reputations across settlements without a fixed appearance. Fulton noted that entering new areas as a stranger enables fresh identities, prioritizing player control over legacy features.
The game includes gender selection, a character creator, marriages, home ownership, jobs, and divorces, with consequences like disgruntled tenants causing future issues. It is single-player only, with no co-op, and lacks the iconic dog companion. Unlike Forza Horizon 6, which launches May 19, 2026, on Xbox and PC first with PS5 following later, Fable releases simultaneously across platforms. Xbox Game Studios head Craig Duncan stated: “We want our games to reach the most players that we can,” citing resource constraints for inconsistencies in multiplatform strategies.
Delayed from 2025 to ensure quality, Duncan assured: “The wait will definitely be worth it.” Fans have mixed feelings; some lament the loss of appearance morphing as a core feature, with Reddit user Disastrous_Fig5609 saying it helped “shape your character with your actions,” while others appreciate the evolutions for modern role-playing.
