Microsoft has for long been rumored to be silently working on resurrecting the Fable franchise with a brand new installment. There have even been rumors about a potential spin-off but nothing that has been officially acknowledged.
Earlier today, Microsoft was discovered (via IGN) to have renewed its Fable trademark. While the practice of renewing trademarks is pretty common and standard among publishers, Microsoft applied for a trademark renewal with the “intent to use” which would suggest that there are certain plans in place—preferably for the near future.
Microsoft will be hosting a first-party reveal event for Xbox Series X at the end of the month. Halo Infinite, as well as several other first-party games, will receive gameplay footage to showcase the feats of the upcoming next-generation console. Microsoft is also expected to make new announcements during the digital event, which would make the first-party reveal the most opportunistic time to announce Fable 4 or even a spin-off for that matter.
Playground Games, the studio behind the Forza Horizon franchise, is rumored to be the studio developing a new Fable installment. Back in April, Playground Games was once again reported to be working on a new “fantasy IP” that many believe to be Fable 4. The mention of an open-world role-playing game has surfaced before as well in reference to aggressive hiring by the studio for internal projects.
The closest official acknowledgement to any Fable-related rumors came last year when Matt Booty, head of Microsoft Studios, teased that Fable fans should be around for the now cancelled E3 2020. If there was indeed an announcement planned for the annual convention, Microsoft should naturally be making it soon.
