Back in 2014, the beloved RPG franchise Fable effectively disappeared along with its original designer Peter Molyneux, who would go on to create the 22cans studio.
Whether Fable’s vanishing act had anything to do with the middling reviews for the most recent original entry, Fable: The Journey, is up for debate but fans have had (almost) nothing but silence from the RPG since that particular release.
A Taste for Fantasy
The good news is that Fable looks set to make a return in the future, courtesy of long-time Forza Horizon developer Playground Games.
Recent reports suggest that it’s already in a playable state. The bad news is that it’s yet another remake of the original and, also, it seems to be stuck in development hell. In January, the ComicBook website cited a report claiming that Fable may not be out until about 2027.
The news will be disappointing, as the appetite for Fable and fantasy media, in general, has never been higher. The action roleplayer would fit in neatly between TV landmarks like Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, and what may ultimately become a rival of Fable down the line, God of War.
Of course, Elden Ring turned heads in early 2022 too, with a rather unique take on the RPG genre.
Another part of gaming, online casinos, has been getting in on the fantasy fad in recent years too, with slots like Apollo: God of the Sun and Thunderstruck: Wild Lightning appearing on operators’ websites.
The BetMGM website also has the Dungeons and Diamonds game, which utilizes many popular RPG aspects, such as dragons and wizards, to attract people who can’t get enough of the genre.
Playground Games
All of this just makes Fable’s tale all the more difficult to swallow. The original game was critically acclaimed and gained a great deal of attention thanks to Molyneux’s typically bombastic salesmanship.
It wasn’t without controversy, as several features promised by Moleneux didn’t actually materialize, something that has blighted the development of some 22cans games too, such as Godus.
Despite an assurance that Fable is Microsoft’s most important RPG at the moment, the worry for fans is that a remake doesn’t actually represent anything new, especially as it’s the second one in a decade, after 2014’s Fable Anniversary.
Also, Playground Games has no experience whatsoever with RPGs, having only released Forza titles (five of them) since its creation back in 2010.
So, while it might feel like time to get excited about Fable’s future, it’s perhaps worth taking a more tempered approach to the upcoming RPG.
Rumors of its playable state ultimately mean that it’s achieved the bare minimum for a video game, one that’s been oversold – perhaps unintentionally – since its debut in 2004. Overall, Playground Games has an awful lot to live up to.
On the plus side, plenty of recent remakes have been well-received by the community, such as Dead Space, which expanded on the original game with new side-quests.
If the Fable remake can achieve a fraction of the success of its nearly 20-year-old namesake, it might just resurrect the franchise for a new generation.
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