Fable reboot is not delayed but Microsoft has a difficult decision ahead

The most important new Xbox game in years faces a hard choice about its release date, but the developer insists it is still on course to be a 2026 launch.

Although November is usually the busiest time for new video game releases nobody in their right mind wants to be anywhere near the launch of GTA 6 on November 19.

Yearly franchises like EA Sports FC and Call Of Duty don’t have much of a choice but everyone else will do all they can to get out of the way – just like they did when they thought it was coming out in May.

This does present a problem though, for games that have been in development for years and which previously saw the gift-giving season as the best time to launch.

It’s especially important for first party exclusives, meant to help sell the idea of buying a new console at Christmas.

It remains a mystery as to what Nintendo is going to do but Sony has already decided to get Marvel’s Wolverine out as early as possible, on September 15.

But it’s been unclear what approach Microsoft will take with the reboot of Fable, which has been delayed multiple times and is not a guaranteed hit.

There’s been plenty of questions over whether Fable will even be finished in time for this Christmas, but today the official Fable account insisted on X that, ‘We’re excited to welcome you to Albion in Autumn 2026!’ Albion being the fictional world in which the game is set.

This was undoubtedly a reaction to rumours started by Jeff Grubb that Fable ‘has been pushed internally.’ Speaking on the Giant Bomb podcast he said that: ‘Apparently, they’re still trying to get it out this year, but they are worried about the launch of GTA.

And so if it’s getting delayed beyond the release of GTA 6 that could push it into December, which might make it a prime candidate to get delayed into 2027.’

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That already seemed to be half speculation, at best, but the statement from Microsoft confirms that, as of right now, Fable is still coming out this year.

At what time this year remains a mystery, with the minimum safe distance from GTA 6 generally thought to be around two months either side.

Coming out before Rockstar’s game seems the best bet, but it’s not clear if Fable will be ready by then – plus the competition from other games doing the same thing will be fierce.

December is only rarely used to launch big name games but Microsoft has release titles in that period before, most recently Indiana Jones And The Great Circle in 2024.

Although that inevitably means the game will be overlooked in terms of The Game Awards, whose cut off is in November, and an award win is just the sort of publicity Microsoft is after.

More importantly, the online mode for GTA 6 is rumoured to be going live roughly a month after the main game launches, which is exactly what happened with GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2.

No company wants to run into the back of that, but at the moment the options for Fable, and many other 2026 titles, are dangerously limited.

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