Will Fable 4 Be At E3 2021?

Fable 4, in development by Forza Horizon makers Playground Games, was first announced in July 2020 during Microsoft’s Xbox Games Showcase. The game is coming to PC and Xbox Series X/S at some point in the future – but beyond that, Microsoft has had little to say. There is a chance that more concrete details will arrive during the company’s E3 2021 livestream.

Fable is a storied action-RPG franchise. The first three games were developed by Peter Molyneux’s Lionhead Studios and helped to prop up the original Xbox as well as the Xbox 360. Lionhead, unfortunately, was dissolved in 2016 before it could complete another original entry – Fable Legends – and the handful of spinoffs never found much success. With the exception of the card game Fable Fortune, the series effectively skipped the Xbox One.

A Fable 4 appearance at E3 2021 would make sense for a few reasons. If the game was teased in 2020, it should probably be far enough into development a year later to have gameplay footage. It would also be a potential showstopper, not the least because of its significance to the Xbox platform – together with Halo, the original Fable helped to make a case for buying an Xbox over a PlayStation 2. Lastly, Playground’s Forza Horizon series has been lucrative and itself a highlight of past Xbox events, likely inspiring confidence among Microsoft executives for its version of Fable.

Fable 4 Forecasts Should Be Kept In Check

There are reasons Fable 4 could be a no-show. AAA games sometimes see unannounced setbacks, especially if developers decide to retool their design midway. The COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench into many studios’ plans, and it’s rumored that both the next Fable and Perfect Dark titles could be years away. There are also many examples of games that were teased long before they were ready – Cyberpunk 2077, for example, had teasers as early as January 2013, only getting a full intro at E3 2018 and finally launching in December 2020. Even then the game was effectively broken on consoles and may still take several months more to fix.

If it’s at all possible, Microsoft will probably have something from Fable 4 to announce at E3 2021. It’s too important to ignore, and with the pandemic having thrown off its release schedule, it would be a good way to fill in time during its stream. The presentation begins June 13 at 1 PM Eastern time, 10 AM Pacific, and should last about 90 minutes – with new Microsoft acquisition Bethesda taking up a sizable chunk of that time. Fans will be able to watch on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.

About The Author

Roger Fingas
(307 Articles Published)

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Originally from Ottawa, Canada, Roger now lives with his family in Austin, Texas. He has years of experience in tech writing, and his gaming specialties include FPS and VR games on the PC.

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