Fable Could Be The Biggest PS5 Game Of 2026

Fable has been delayed to 2026, and insiders suggest this release date shift was made both to give Playground Games additional development time, but also to ensure a PS5 version of the title was ready to go alongside Xbox and PC. When you consider the current climate and how Microsoft has been treating recent exclusives like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Avowed, and Forza Horizon 5, it makes perfect sense. Xbox is no longer a platform made to bolster exclusive games, so why would Fable follow in those outdated footsteps?

Microsoft has already been making public moves to transition away from releasing games on Xbox and PC alone. The existence of Game Pass and launching triple-A titles on the service for no extra cost over the past several years has made it difficult to recoup the development costs of games with multi-million-dollar budgets, not to mention that releasing for ‘free’ has a devastating impact on how such games are perceived. They aren’t valuable anymore to your average consumer. By transitioning new blockbusters, beloved indies, and pushing older titles to new platforms like PS5 and framing them as fresh experiences, you can change that perception.

Fable Is Going To Be A Bigger Deal On PS5 Than Xbox

I previously wrote about how Halo coming to PS5 will be the beginning of the end for Xbox, but I didn’t necessarily mean that in an entirely negative context. While console hardware by the green giant will inevitably be phased out in the years to come, like Sega after the death of Dreamcast, there is a chance its franchises will flourish more than ever with new places to call home. Halo, Fable, Forza, and Gears will no longer be marketed as exclusive games that can only be played on a single console, but series that span far and wide, and after the dust has settled, can be treated as such by both Microsoft and gamers alike.

We are already seeing this strategy play out on PS5 with Forza Horizon 5 and all of its DLC set to arrive in the coming months, while rumours also suggest that future exclusives, Fable notwithstanding, like Perfect Dark, South of Midnight, and The Outer Worlds 2 will also come to PS5. The latter is already confirmed for a multi-platform release.

If the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware proves capable, Xbox games could head there too, and that alone is going to grow the Xbox audience significantly. As someone who only ever plays on Xbox for work and will avoid it otherwise, this certainly makes me more excited. Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment are two such games I’ve played to death on PS5, and chances are I’ll do the same when Fable rolls around.

But what if this strategy not only looks forward to the future, but pilfers the past with equal enthusiasm? If nothing is off the table, there is a chance for Xbox to bring its legacy to PlayStation and Nintendo platforms over the course of multiple years with ports, remasters, and a willingness to cast aside the console war moniker that has held it back for decades.

And Its Success Will Be Instrumental To The Future Of Xbox

We haven’t yet reached the point where major titles from Xbox Game Studios are marketed for PS5, Xbox, PC, and Nintendo Switch with no strings attached. We have become so used to the console war mindset that games that were once destined to be exclusives arriving on rival platforms still feels like an oddity.

I felt it with Indy, Hi-Fi Rush, and I’ll feel it with Forza Horizon 5 and Age of Mythology. Fable, though, could be the game that finally shifts the tide for good. Xbox would benefit from treating it as a multiplatform blockbuster that will make an equal splash wherever it lands, especially if it has no intention of creating pure exclusives in its wake. Leave that behind, treat Fable with the reverence it deserves, and you will reap all the rewards.

Besides, the audience is likely going to shift heavily in the favour of PS5 and PC anyway, if past releases are any indication, so catering to them in your marketing and making it very clear that Fable is no longer on Xbox alone couldn’t be more important. Chances are it will look and play best on PS5 Pro anyway, especially if the optimisation work takes place as a consequence of this delay.

I’m confident Fable is going to be worth the wait, and the fact it could be playable on both PS5 and Xbox drastically increases its chances of success. Microsoft needs a win with no awkward strings attached, and this could be the one it’s been waiting for.

Fable

Systems

Released

September 14, 2004

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Language, Sexual Content, Use of Alcohol, Violence