Whatever happened to Fable? Despite being one of the highest profile, exclusive franchises on the Xbox, after the release of Fable 3, Microsoft didn't seem to know what to do with the franchise. With a nearly-forgotten experiment with the Kinect, Fable: Journeys, and some Xbox Live Arcade games based on the minigames in the franchise, there hasn't been a commitment to a mainline Fable game in nearly a decade. With the recent closure of Fable developer Lionhead Games, one of the dearly departed studios from the late-period PC market of the 90s and made up of many castoffs from Theme Hospital and Dungeon Keeper Bullfrog, and the even more recent cancellation of the multiplayer-focused Fable: Legends, there seemed to be no hope for a new installment in what was once the most exciting RPG franchise ever.

However, in the last few months, rumors have been swirling about a long-awaited return to form for the oddball, extremely British franchise. While no official announcement has been made, there are rumblings all over the internet about a new Fable being in development. Whether this will officially be Fable 4, a reboot, a remake, or some kind of spin-off, is all unclear. What I've put together is a list of the wishes that have been flying around over the last half year. Since the cancellation of Fable: Legends, a lot of these rumors have gone into overdrive.

A warning: None of these rumors have been confirmed, so take them all with a big grain of salt, but many of them, like #25 and #19, are no-brainers.

25 It's Definitely Going To Be At E3

The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, was at one time the only major video game trade show that mattered. While its importance and profile has decreased in recent years, mostly due to the rise of company-specific shows like BlizzCon and QuakeCon, as well as the bleeding of video game interests into the wider pop culture conventions like Comic Con, E3 is still a major focal point for video game marketing.

It is all but assured that Microsoft will have something to announce at E3.

With all the buzz surrounding Fable 4 online, it is all but assured that Microsoft will have something to announce at E3 in June. Microsoft is expected to have a big showing this year as, saleswise, they lagged far behind Sony in 2017 and this is partly due to their lack of exclusive titles. A big, impressive showing of new games exclusive to Microsoft would make a big impact and such a lineup would have to include Fable 4.

24 Fable 4 Might Already Have A Title

The mainline Fable games have never had subtitles. The major releases were just numerically ordered, Fable, Fable II, Fable III. However, which so much time having passed since the release of Fable 3, it's possible Microsoft will change things up and ditch the numerical system, similar to many recent titles in long-running franchises like Tomb Raider and DOOM.

According to an Xbox Live API Leak  last year, an unnamed UK-based studio was working on an action RPG with the codename of "Wisdom." While internal titles are rarely used upon release, Wisdom is interesting in that it seems to be a reference to the magic system in Fable. Since the Fable games have always been about the passage of time as well, most famously the in prison sequence of Fable 2, a story that spans a character's entire life could fittingly be titled Fable: Wisdom.

23 It Will Be MASSIVE

This is more of a conjectural statement based on current market trends and the history of the franchise than anything I've specifically read, but it's safe to say that a new, full-blown Fable game will have an enormous scope. Even the original Fable, released way back in 2004, had an enormous gameworld by the standards of the time, rivaling even the Elder Scrolls games, maybe not in landmass, but in how much stuff there was to do.

We have to assume the new Fable will be quite large.

While Zelda: Breath of the Wild may have (finally, thankfully) killed the idea that gameworlds have to be stuffed with boring, repetitive tasks for the player to complete, we have to assume the new Fable will be quite large, to say the least. Even if the landmass isn't enormous, some density to the environment, like the new Shadow of the Colossus, would be very welcome.

22 We May Know Who's Making It

The developer of Fable 4 was originally suspected to be the Brighton, UK-based Studio Gobo developer Electric Square, who are definitely making something for Microsoft, though no one is saying exactly what just yet. Former Lionhead developer Don Williamson was asked, indirectly, if Electric Square was the developer, he said: "there's nobody here in Brighton that could take on a task of that magnitude."

That leads us to one big candidate: Playground Games, makers of the recently released and well-received Xbox-exclusive Forza Horizon, who have been known to be working on an open-world RPG for Microsoft for some time. Job postings by Playground indicate they are looking for artists and programmers with experience in these fields and Horizons was itself an open world game, just with cars instead of swords and horses.

21 No More Simple Good/Evil Morality

When Fable was released in 2004, good/evil, black/white, morality was all the rage. Developer Lionhead had even previously released two games literally called Black & White in which the player was a God who could protect or torment both their people, and a giant animal avatar.

The concept of a simple morality system has gone out of style.

Fifteen years later, after being integrated into basically every kind of video game, the concept of a simple morality system has gone out of style. While some games have been experimenting with a more complex system, such as The Witcher 3's Geralt being an influential but neutral force in the world, it would be a benefit to Fable 4 to have a similarly deep and complex morality system that goes beyond angel wings and horns.

20 A Whole New World

Every Fable game has taken place, in one way or another, on the continent of Albion, a sort-of fairytale re-imagining of the United Kingdom, the place where original Fable developer Lionhead Games was based. Albion is also likely a reference to "Avalon," a mythical island from British legend where, among other things, the sword Excalibur was forged.

A totally new type of game environment.

While it would be great to see Albion rendered in 4k, a change of scenery from the European-inspired biomes of so many traditional fantasy RPGs would be welcome. The Coral Forest from the recent Monster Hunter: World is a terrific example of a totally new type of game environment that still feels real and plausible within the confines of the world. Given Fables storybook aesthetic, something similarly creative would be awesome to see.

19 It Will Finally Live Up To The "Acorn" Promise

Way, way back in the early 2000s, while promoting the original Fable, designer Peter Molyneux famously proclaimed that the world of Fable would respond to player input like no other game before. He famously promised that players could knock acorns off of trees and that those acorns would eventually grow into acorns themselves. Now, Molyneux is famous for over-promising and has even apologized for doing so.

Fable 4 could feasibly deliver on "the acorn promise."

Thing is, Fable 4 could feasibly deliver on "the acorn promise." While the idea of every acorn you knock off every tree growing into a new tree is maybe a bit much, farming simulators have exploded in recent years thanks to games like Stardew Valley and many RPGs now have some kind of "homestead" or base building mechanic. The idea of player housing and farming in Fable 4 isn't so far fetched.

18 You Won't Just Be On Foot

One big omission from the Fable games of yore was the implementation of player-ridden mounts like horses. While there is a certain appeal to being forced to travel through the game world on foot, personally I find that I miss a lot of detail and off-the-beaten-path stuff when I'm racing past everything at 100 km/h, the thought that Fable 4 won't have some kind of mounted beasts is nuts.

It's not unthinkable we wouldn't see cars or other vehicles make an appearance.

While every game has rideable horses, Fable's bestiary is diverse enough to include some exciting options for rideable animals. Wolves have always had a prominent place in Fable's world, not to mention bears, deer, and other traditionally British fauna. With the letter entries pushing further into the future, it's not unthinkable we wouldn't see cars or other vehicles make an appearance.

17 Story First

After years of games with a multiplayer focus, 2017 saw some very high-profile releases that put a strong emphasis on story-driven, single payer games that garnered a lot of critical acclaim and, crucially, also sold very well. Big, high-risk games like Horizon: Zero Dawn, Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, and Assassin's Creed: Origins didn't have a multiplayer component at all. Even a huge first-person shooter like Wolfenstein: The New Colossus was single-player only.

Microsoft is willing to go for a big single-player-focused campaign for Fable 4.

If the recent cancellation of multiplayer-only Fable: Legends is any indication, Microsoft is willing to go for a big single-player-focused campaign for Fable 4. While there's a possibility of having some kind of co-op or drop-in component similar to Destiny, for this to be a true return to the franchise, there would have to be a fully featured single-player story anchoring the whole project.

16 This Time, It's Personal (Again)

Speaking of the single-player story, the biggest strength of those heralded stories in previous Fable titles have always been the personal stakes involved in the player character. Fable 2's journey of revenge across your character's entire lifetime has one of the best moments in video game storytelling: when you're shown your character through four stages of his or her life, including not just how your armor changed but how your body did too. Imagine the emotional impact of a similar sequence with the graphical fidelity of the current generation systems.

Think of all the new tech they could pour into your dog!

A new story with personal stakes similar to the sibling revenge plot of Fable 2 or the deposed prince tale of Fable 3 but greatly expanded with a larger number of supporting characters would be huge. Plus, think of all the new tech they could pour into your dog!

15 Industry Veterans Are Working On It

Assuming the rumors thus far are accurate and Fable 4 is being developed by UK-based studio Playground Games, there are some extremely talented people banging away at Fable 4 as we speak. Playground announced in November it had hired some serious veterans of open world games and third-person action RPGs to work on its still-mysterious new IP. From a developer with 10 years experience at Kojima, including work on The Phantom Pain, to a former Rockstar dev who worked on GTA V. I'm especially excited about their new combat director, Juan Fernandez di Simon, who worked on Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, a game I believe has one of the best third-person, small group combat systems ever developed. Considering the action in Fable has always been a major focus, di Simon's expertise is a welcome addition.

14 It Will Learn From 2017's Big Hits

2017 was a fantastic year for video games, seeing not only a welcome return to form for Nintendo in a dazzling duo of genre-defining hits, but some really solid high budget titles. 2017 was an especially good year for open-world action RPGs, the very genre that Fable helped popularise in the 2000s, with the critical and commercial success of Assassin's Creed: Origins and the brilliant but unfortunately timed Horizon: Zero Dawn.

In fact, Eurogamer reports that part of the renewed interest in Fable as a franchise is due to the success of Horizon. It makes sense: HZD was a big gamble- a new IP by a studio that had never worked on that type of game before. It makes sense that Microsoft would see the success of Horizon, Zelda, and AC: Origins as a sign the market was ready for a new Fable.

13 A Massive World

Building off an entry up above, Fable could easily forgo restricting players to the island of Albion and open up the larger world of Fable for exploration. Never before in a Fable game have players been given access to the areas beyond the island, the developers instead choosing to set the stories in different time periods. If, as stated above, Fable 4 is influenced by Horizon: Zero Dawn, it's possible we could see a huge interconnected gameworld with plenty of variety in the biomes players have to explore.

A huge interconnected gameworld with plenty of variety in the biomes players have to explore.

While Fable has traditionally been located in European-style forests and glades with occasional towns and cities, a desert or jungle environment would complement the world quite nicely. Or maybe Microsoft will be encouraged by the upcoming releases of Sea of Thieves and Skull & Bones and open up the ocean for players to explore.

12 Monty Python's Action RPG

Fable has always had one major thing setting it apart from other games of its genre: its humor. While many big budget titles take themselves so, so seriously, the assumption being that the more something costs, the more serious it has to be taken, Fable has never been afraid to fill itself with the kind of irreverent humor that Britain is famous for. From being able to fart on command to having a wide repertoire of d-pad assigned insults at your disposal, the world of Fable always understood a golden rule of writing: drama without comedy is boring, and comedy without drama is pointless.

Can Playground … really match the wit that Lionhead so effortlessly pulled off?

One has to assume that, humor being a cornerstone of what makes Fable, Fable, it would be included in a big way in the next installment. The change in the developer is troubling for this particular issue: comedy in games is hard to pull off. Can Playground, assuming they are developing Fable 4, really match the wit that Lionhead so effortlessly pulled off?

11 Tons Of Tasks

Fable 2 is probably the only game that made doing its optional side tasks and jobs fun and worthwhile. I spent a lot of time pouring pints and chopping wood to make up enough coin to start buying properties so I could get a steady stream of cash later on. I don't know what it is, maybe it was the industry's obsession with rhythm games at the time, but I always enjoyed playing my lute or whistling for crowds and the various other side tasks presented to the player.

Similar to the humor, the idea that Fable 4 would ship without a similar amount of optional jobs and tasks to complete is unthinkable. Considering Microsoft once made a whole game out of the pub games in Fable 2, we have to assume there would be as many or more tasks in Fable 4. Hopefully, they're actually fun- more Fable 2 and less Mass Effect: Andromeda

10 Deeper Conversations

Aside from the occasional "Hello" and "Follow," the main character in Fable and Fable 2 was silent. While they added a fully voiced character for Fable 3, the series has never achieved the depths of conversation that its contemporaries, like Mass Effect, have always presented.

There is still a lot of hunger for a fully voiced, opinionated character.

A 2020 Fable game would be expected to have this kind of depth to its conversation system, especially if similar care was given to the morality system. While Zelda and Horizon got by without much of a dialogue system, the success of The Witcher 3 and the muted reception towards Mass Effect: Andromeda proves there is still a lot of hunger for a fully voiced, opinionated character. Considering what a jerk you can be in Fable, the possibilities for a Geralt-like character are pretty exciting.

9 It Will Be Like Destiny

Before it was canceled and Lionhead Studios was closed, Microsoft had wanted Fable: Legends to be a free-to-play, "game as service" title. Similar to an MMO like World of Warcraft or Destiny, this is a relatively new concept in video games that allows for a steady release of content for a game after it has been released. At best, this means that buyers can expect a constant stream of high-quality free content bolstered by meaty paid DLC every few months. At worst, it's a way for developers to release an unfinished game for full price and use their customers and beta testers while charging for features that should have been on the disk.

It's likely Microsoft will at least attempt something similar with Fable 4.

While games-as-service has its advantages and disadvantages, it's probably not going anywhere and it's likely Microsoft will at least attempt something similar with Fable 4. Whether they handle it properly or not remains to be seen.

8 It's Been A Long Time Since The Original

If you're reading this, it's likely you've been a gamer for a long time. The Fable franchise hasn't been popular in a long time and most of its fans are on the older side of the coveted 18-30 demographic that most games are marketed towards. If Microsoft is going to make a big splash with Fable 4, attaching it to the chronology of a series that's been effectively dormant for 10 years isn't a great plan.

Most of its fans are on the older side of the coveted 18-30 demographic.

A full reboot of the original is a distinct possibility. The story of the original, a young hero leaves their village on a mission of revenge and joins the Hero's Guide to gain the skills and renown they'll need, is a workmanlike introduction to the world of Fable. While modern gamers' expectations of storytelling will necessitate a more involved storyline, perhaps incorporating elements from Fable 2 and 3.

7 New Ways To Fight

Credit where it's due, the original Fable did a competent job of introducing a robust combat system to a 3rd-person action game, something most games were still figuring out how to handle effectively. Looking back, it's similar to the system that would eventually define the standard: Batman: Arkham Asylum. For my money, Fable 2 really nailed the fluid blending of melee, ranged, and magic combat, not to mention the addition of friendly NPCs like your dog.

Fable 2 really nailed the fluid blending of melee, ranged, and magic combat.

With the addition of Juan Fernandez di Simon, we could see a really tight and impactful melee combat system like in his previous project, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, with the addition of pistols and an elemental combat system. Fans of Magicka and Divinity: Original Sin 2 know how much fun a magic system like that can be, and it would fit right in with the madcap feel of Fable.

6 Fill In The Backstory

Fable has never had much time for its backstory, focusing instead on creating a compelling world for the player to experience their own story, rather than drowning them in history and support material like, say, an Elder Scrolls game. While vague, there are definitely some interesting things that could be pulled out of the wider Fable lore which could make for a compelling prequel. In fact, Fable: Legends was set hundreds of years before the original game.

A story that explored the founding of the city of Bowerstone, or the origins of the Guilds, could easily be a compelling tale for new players while filling in details for fans of the series from the beginning. Fable's magic system has always been interesting to me, in how it physically warps those who use it, and the working title of Wisdom could be a hint as to an exploration of that.