Fable 4 is happening, it’s story-focused, and everything else we know so far
Prepare to return to Albion in Fable 4 by learning everything we know so far about the rumoured title.
From the rumours, it looks like Fable 4 is almost definitely happening. 2020 could well be the year we finally see the game too, as it feels appropriate to fall into part of the upcoming Xbox Series X games line-up, which will be revealed a little more at an incoming July event. There’s reason to hope at least, anyway. With the release of the Xbox Series X this ‘Holiday 2020’, we’re at least hoping that Fable 4 will be a part of the console’s future.
It is apparently in development at Playground Games, the studio that has brought you the glorious Forza Horizon series. We know that courtesy of a huge Fable 4 leak that emerged a while back, which revealed that a massive chunk of the gameplay, and core themes, may have changed, including that the game is likely set across multiple planets, and could even involve time travel. Madness.
Interestingly, Xbox’s Phil Spencer has an answer as to why we didn’t see Fable 4 at E3 last year. He says Xbox wants “to make sure that when we talk about things to come, whether it’s Fable or not, that the team feels very solid about what they are doing. I will harken back to … the Marvel MMO. Anybody remember us announcing a Marvel MMO? We didn’t even have a team that was signed that would do the Marvel MMO.” Sounds like Microsoft learnt their lessons from that mistake, as Spencer goes on to talk about how his team decides when is the right time to officially confirm which games are on the horizon.
“Running a studio organisation and making sure we’re talking about games at the right time, when we know what we’re trying to build - I’m not making any comment specifically about Fable; it’s about anything in the portfolio ... that we have … some idea of when it would come out” is a priority, says Spencer. “The thing I love about our [E3 2019] show was 60 games and the first party games - I could tell you when those all were shipping, and I can play those games, most of them here, and can put my hands on them and make promises.”
Ok, time to run down what got included in the Fable 4 E3 2019 leak. Apparently Albion has been destroyed by an asteroid that got wished into existence by a Mad King who took control of the Tattered Spire, the Will-fuelled tower from Fable 2 that granted the person who controlled it one wish once it was built. So now it’s down to you to use time travel to save it… we think.
Theresa and the Guild are hiding away on another planet that you can access via a demon door, but if you want you can ignore the entirety of the main quest and never become a hero at all. Players can also build their own towns in the completely open world, which ties into the main quest (unsurprising for anyone who’s played any Fable games), plus the character creator is majorly in depth. For those who were miffed about the guns in Fable 3 and 2, you can rest assured that there are zero guns in Fable 4. Oh yeah, and there’s finally multiplayer! The whole thing is being made in Unreal Engine, so it should look pretty as heck. Now we just need to see it in action…