Microsoft revealed that Fable 4 is in development for Xbox Series X during the Xbox Games Showcase. The Fable series is known for its freedom of agency, and throughout the various entries, players can get married, have children, get jobs, own property, and even become the ruler of a nation. However, Fable has suffered from being a milewide and puddle deep, with many of the franchise’s systems offering only a shallow dive into each aspect of the game. However, it wasn’t intended to be that way.
Various revolutionary gameplay features were promised over Fable‘s history that never made it into the final product. The technological limitations of the Xbox and Xbox 360 made it impossible to create a game with the scope Lionhead Studios imagined. Things might be different with the Xbox Series X, though.
While the series is beloved, it was meant to be more. The most quoted example was made by Peter Molyneux during the production of the first game. In Fable, it was envisioned that you’d be able to plant an acorn and watch it grow into an oak tree during the course of the game. Passage of time was supposed to be a more significant focus of the various game’s systems in general. Pregnancy would have run its course in real-time but was reduced to an in-game cutscene instead.
The Fable series is about building your legend from your youth to your adult life. Whether the games were simply too ambitious or the devs couldn’t realize their vision with the hardware, Albion remains relatively static throughout each game. Perhaps with the Xbox Series X, we’ll get a chance to see the passage of time, with the player character and NPCs growing old and eventually dying. I’d love to see a Fable that went all-in on the life sim elements, but it’s yet to be seen what Playground Games will do with the franchise.
No release date has been announced for Fable 4. In fact, no information has been released about the upcoming game except that it exists and is coming to Xbox Series X.
