There could be some bad news for gamers who were hoping to explore the upcoming Fable reboot with a friend, as it appears the game will skip out on co-op in favor of a single-player experience. Co-op was a staple feature of previous Fable games, but it seems that Playground Games has opted out of including it as part of its own title.
After a period of radio silence, the Fable reboot was recently shown at the Xbox Developer Direct, offering a fresh look at Playground Games' upcoming RPG. Reception to the showcase has been largely positive, and the reboot seems to be capturing much of the charm that made the original trilogy so iconic. A Fall 2026 release window was finally confirmed, as well as a day one PlayStation 5 release, further breaking down the walls of exclusivity between PlayStation and Xbox.
Fable Has the Chance to 'Steal' a Fantasy Archetype That Shines in Baldur's Gate 3
Fable is shaping up to be a soft reboot, and reimagining the franchise opens the door for one particular fantasy archetype to thrive in Albion.
Fable May Not Feature Co-Op Like Previous Games
As spotted by Anilahation on Reddit, Fable is marked as being "Single-player" on Steam, both in its official categories and user-defined tags. Of course, the user-defined tags mean very little at this point in time, but the fact that the official category has the exact same thing indicates that Fable will indeed only be available to play single-player. So while there's plenty that Fable is seemingly improving from the original games, there will be one thing missing that could prove to be a deal-breaker for a lot of players.
Previous Fable games from Lionhead Studios were available to play co-op from start to finish, making it somewhat of a staple franchise feature at this point. In Fable 3, players could even marry their co-op partner. Reception to the apparent change was quite mixed in the thread. Some didn't mind the change, and gave Playground Games a pass based on the fact that it's the developer's first attempt at an RPG. Another user was just happy about the fact that "now achievements won't force you to do multi-player in order to get them all," which is one fact that is easily missed. However, the thread was also filled with stories about players who were hoping to play Fable with their friends and partners, having played the previous games in the series together, leading to disappointment this time around.
Although it seems that Fable has captured the essence of previous games in the series, it's a mixed bag on how faithful the reboot will be to the series at the moment. For example, Fable will allow players to marry almost all the NPCs in the game, which is a romance system right in line with how past games handled it, for better or for worse. However, it has also been confirmed that the protagonist's appearance will no longer change according to players' actions, which is a massively controversial change that removes a huge part of the series' identity. Of course, it's unfair to expect the reboot not to change some elements from previous games, as that doesn't allow it to be its own thing. It's a delicate balance between the new and the old that Playground Games will need to strike, and it will be interesting to see how the developer handles it.
With the Fall 2026 release window now locked in, fans should expect to see plenty more of the Fable reboot in the coming months. Comparisons to the original Fable trilogy will always be made, but hopefully the game offers plenty more to get fans even more excited about the prospect of this game truly standing on its own two feet.
- Released
- 2026
- Developer(s)
- Playground Games
- Publisher(s)
- Xbox Game Studios
- Engine
- unreal engine 4, forza tech
- Franchise
- Fable
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Adventure
