Fable reboot gameplay reveal features chickens, combat, and tough choices

It’s safe to say fans have been waiting a while for this one. After it was revealed in February 2025 that the game was delayed until 2026, the team working on the Fable reboot went silent. Since then, we’ve heard practically nothing. That is, until the latest Xbox Developer Direct on Thursday, where Microsoft revealed the first proper look at the Fable reboot’s gameplay, and gave it an autumn 2026 release window.

The Developer Direct included an extended presentation about the reboot from Playground Games. “Fable is Playground’s first open-world action-RPG,” studio founder and general manager Ralph Fulton explains. “Although our game is a new beginning, I think what we’re making is really faithful to the spirit of the classic Lionhead trilogy we all love.”

The footage shown in the presentation teased the various locations you’ll be visiting, including Albion’s capital city of Bowerstone. There, you’ll dig into the secrets being hidden by the Heroes Guild. Another location touched on is the city of Bloodstone, which is run by a pair of rival gangs.

Additionally, Xbox confirmed during the Developer Direct that there will be multiple character models to customize in order to create your warrior. That includes some very silly armor choices, like the chicken costume you can see above. Once you’ve built your character, you have a variety of types of combat to choose from — from melee battling up close to ranged combat. In the footage screened, we saw our hero battling all manner of baddies from the Fable universe, including trolls, hobbes, and balvarines.

What we really need to talk about is the cockatrice, though. The Fable reboot introduces a gigantic fire-breathing chicken, which is exactly as cool as it sounds. While the devs noted it breathes fire, the beast didn’t let loose during the battle we were shown.

As it turns out, there’s also far more to do in Fable than just fight. The presentation showed that you can fall in love, get married, have kids, buy a house, buy all the other houses in town, buy every business in Albion, and then continue marrying other people. With enough money, it seems as though you can just own the world, which will absolutely be how some people play the game.

Keep in mind, though, everything you do will impact your reputation among others and it will definitely change how people react to you. “Your reputation is created by the choices you make,” quest director Justin Schram says. So if everyone you come across hates you, there’s probably a reason why.

This will be the first new Fable title since 2012’s Fable: The Journey. While not badly received, its reliance on Xbox Kinect technology hindered its success. A cooperative Fable title was in the works after The Journey, but was canceled in 2016. The Fable reboot hails from developers Playground Games, the studio known for the Forza Horizon racing series. Eurogamer first reported back in 2018 that Playground Games was working on a new installment of the franchise, after original developer Lionhead Studios was shuttered by parent company Microsoft in 2016. We got early looks at the game in 2023 and 2024, but this is the first actual footage we’ve seen since then.

Fable will be available for PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X this autumn.