Fable 4 rumor and leak round-up: Everything we know

While Lionhead Studios is long gone, the Fable name might yet live on. Fable 4 very likely exists, but what we know about it is fragmented and diluted by rumor and speculation. There's been no official word on a sequel from Microsoft yet, and last we heard of Fable was the cancelled F2P Fable Legends. But we all know leaving behind such a beloved series forever would be foolish. 

So let's scoop up all those rumors and sift through them to figure out what we actually know about Fable 4 even though we still don't have any official confirmation that it's in the works.

If Fable 4 exists, who's making it?

All signs point to Playground Games, the studio behind the Forza Horizon racing games. According to a 2018 Eurogamer report, the open world game Playground has been chipping away at for a few years is actually the next Fable. Eurogamer's sources say it's being developed as an open-world action RPG with around 200 people on the project. Playground beefed up a new Warwickshire studio just for it. Whatever it is, it's not a simple side project. 

When will we find out more about Fable 4?

Since we've yet to receive official word from Microsoft that a new Fable is in the works, we don't know when or if it'll be revealed. 

Sadly, Fable didn't make an appearance on Microsoft's stage at E3 in 2019. In an interview with Eurogamer, head of Microsoft Game Studios, Matt Booty said of its absence, "I'm excited for the things waiting in the wings. We have a lot of stuff we did not show." Booty declined to comment on Fable specifically but hinted that maybe the following year would finally be our time to see acknowledgement of the next Fable game.

We have yet to hear about Fable 4 in 2020, but the rumors are mounting. If we were to get confirmation that it exists, we can probably look to the Microsoft Xbox 20/20 event planned for July as a setting for an announcement.

What Fable 4 rumors are out there?

Microsoft are renewing the Fable trademark with "intent to use." The application was filed on June 26, 2020 and is still awaiting examination. Microsoft doesn't have to do anything but make a good faith agreement that it plans to use the Fable trademark in the future, but it does come with a deadline. After six months, Microsoft will have to file a statement of use or ask for an extension, which it can do up to five times. 

A Fable Twitter account was recently registered by Microsoft. Aaron Greenberg, general manager at Xbox Games Marketing, followed up to say "These accounts have been inactive for years, it’s standard practice to secure social handles for our IP." That said, the account was only registered in 2020, which is interesting timing.

Several scriptwriters from Batman: Arkham Knight joined Playground Games to work on the rumored Fable 4, as reported by VGC. As of August 2019, Arkham Knight senior scriptwriter Kim MacAskill, Martin Lancaster, and Craig Owens are all apparently on the project.

Disregard Fable 4's listing on Mixer. That database is mostly crowdsourced, and the attached developer listed was Lionhead Studios, which was shut down years ago. It'd be a huge mistake on Microsoft's behalf if the listing were legitimate. 

Fable 4 setting rumors were drawn from a video leaked from an unverified source, allegedly providing a brief overview of Fable 4's setting and structure. Problem is, it's since been scrubbed from the internet. You can check out the original Reddit thread where the video was shared if you like, but here's the gist: 

• It'll feature first- and third-person perspectives
• Guns are gone
• It's possible to ignore the main quest
• Players can build towns
• There will be a multiplayer component
• It's built in the Unreal Engine
• Time travel and interplanetary travel will feature

Hold on. Interplanetary travel? Yeah, it sounds completely buckwild. The original post states that Albion and Aurora were destroyed by an asteroid willed to strike by the wish of a mad king. You allegedly play a character in the far-flung future, at a point when humanity has managed to reach a medieval-like civilization again. Talk about a reset. 

It sounds too ridiculous to be true, but it also sounds like a perfectly fine excuse to wipe the slate clean, which would allow a new studio more creative freedom. Again, there's nothing that gives these details any credence, so approach them with all the skepticism in the world. 

Will they put the 4 in middle of the name because it looks like an A?

F4BLE. F4BLE. 

Oh god, we hope not.