The Fable reboot, announced years ago, may not end up sticking to its current release window after all.

Playground Games finally showed off its long-awaited Fable reboot in greater detail during January’s Xbox Developer Direct, where the studio confirmed a planned fall launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC. The problem is that fall is a very broad window, especially when Grand Theft Auto VI is currently set to arrive on November 19 unless it suffers a third delay. No one really wants to release a major game too close to Rockstar’s monster, because that title is practically guaranteed to suck all the oxygen out of the industry for a while.

That could lead to Playground Games pushing Fable once again. The rumor comes from Jeff Grubb, who says the game has already been hit by a small internal delay. The studio is reportedly still targeting a 2026 launch, but if the game ends up landing too close to Grand Theft Auto VI, it could easily slip all the way into 2027 just to avoid being crushed by Rockstar’s release.

“I can say that I’ve heard Fable has been delayed internally. That doesn’t mean it’s coming out next year. It sounds like they are still trying to get it out this year, but they’re worried about the release of Grand Theft Auto VI. So if it moves to after GTA VI, that could push it into December, which would make it a pretty likely candidate for a 2027 delay. So while Xbox has a lot of games coming this year, this is one that still has a huge amount of uncertainty around it”, Grubb said.

The game was originally set for 2025, but Playground asked for and received extra time for polishing work, pushing it into 2026. Based on the current rumors, even that revised target may not hold. Still, Fable fans would probably accept a bit more waiting if it means getting a better-polished game with a stronger chance of success and a better shot at reviving the fantasy action RPG series for the long term.

Source: WCCFTech