Following the reveal of the upcoming Fable installment, circulating rumors about the game being an MMO are being quickly shut-down by industry insiders.
To many Xbox gamers' delight, a new Fable game is on the horizon despite the closure of Lionhead Studios back in 2016. The franchise seemed like a lost cause, but at yesterday's Xbox Games Showcase, a new Fable title was announced with a short cinematic trailer. It's currently in development by Playground Games, a studio mostly known for its work in Forza Horizon. Shortly after, speculation began circulating and rumors claiming that the new Fable game would be an MMO quickly began to rise on social media.
Most of these rumors originated from some industry insiders, particularly from French journalist known as @CronoTK on Twitter. After the Showcase wrapped up, ChronoTK tweeted a bit of unverified information that loosely translates to: "A game in the world of Fable. But an MMO (sorry, not Fable 4)." This leak held much credence specifically because the French journalist had successfully predicted the entire Xbox Games Showcase lineup before the stream aired yesterday.
But today, several opposing industry insiders are quick to shut this rumor down. One of them is a well-known Xbox insider Klobrille and another, Jez Cordon, a senior writer at Windows Central. Following fans' fears that the next Fable game would not be a proper RPG, Cordon cited a Windows Central article debunking this rumor as a false claim.
These tweets do confirm one thing in common, however: that the upcoming Fable installment will be an open-world action RPG with potential online interactive elements, such as the possibility of co-op functionality or limited shared spaces. But none of this has been confirmed by Playground Games
Currently, there's not much information to go off in regards to Fable 4. While the cinematic trailer certainly showed off some intriguing visuals, it leaves a lot in the way of questions and speculations. Even the release date is completely undisclosed. There was no mention of the story or whether it would be tied in with past installments in the series, but the well-known fantasy kingdom is given an exquisite shot towards the end of the teaser, meaning that the subsequent developers haven't lost sight of the series' history.
Fable is currently in development.