Way back in 2004, Lionhead Studios released the first game in the Fable franchise, Fable. Four years later, the studio released the game's first direct sequel, Fable 2, before moving on to Fable 3 in 2010. Sadly it was to be the last main installment of the franchise and the series was stuck in limbo for several years.
The Fable world is one that can aptly be described as a bizarre one. For the most part, it is a straightforward fantasy story with heroes and villains using swords, bows, arrows, and magic. Fable 2 would expand this to include guns before Fable 3 all but abandoned the medieval fantasy setting altogether for an industrial revolution-inspired story. Furthermore, Fable 3 involved the player character becoming the king of Albion, further divorcing it from traditional fantasy elements. However, some of these fantasy elements stuck around and one can often find their inspiration in the real world.
In a recent post, Reddit user anykindofpeanuts shared an image of a mushroom circle surrounding a small mound. The caption for the post suggested that someone would have to dig into the mound for a silver key. Silver keys are found all over the world of Fable and are used to unlock treasure chests. It is worth noting that these mushroom circles, known as fairy rings, are virtually nonexistent in the game itself.
After the release of Fable 3, a fourth game was planned by Lionhead Studio but never materialize. Series creator Peter Molyneux had plans for future installments that sadly never came to be and whatever games it was developing were quietly axed. Lionhead Studio was eventually shut down in 2016 by parent company Microsoft, seemingly taking the fantasy franchise with it. However, valuable intellectual property rarely stays dead forever.
In 2020, Microsoft announced that a new game in the Fable franchise was in development. Details for the new game are scarce, but it will reportedly bring the franchise back to its traditional, medieval fantasy roots. This new game is being developed by Playground Games which is known for its work on the Forza franchise. The developer's resume currently consists of Forza Horizon, Forza Horizon 2, Forza Horizon 3, and Forza Horizon 4.
While it has been nearly 12 years since Fable 3 was released, posts like this show that an audience for the franchise still exists. The upcoming installment, simply titled Fable, currently does not have a release date and its development is reportedly coming along slowly. One of the reasons that have been cited is the fact that the new Fable developer has no experience with fantasy RPGs. The game is currently expected to be released sometime in 2024 and hopefully will be included with more fairy ring mushroom circles full of silver keys.