As GTA 6 reportedly spooks Xbox into delaying Fable, Playground Games reiterates its RPG remains on track for Autumn 2026

Game companies everywhere are bracing for the attention-sucking black hole on the horizon dubbed 'GTA 6' by quantum physicists. A new rumor even suggests that Xbox's Fable reboot is preparing to move well out of Rockstar Games' way, even though developer Playground Games has claimed that everything remains on track.

Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb recently said he's heard reliable whispers that Fable had been internally delayed out of the Autumn 2026 release window it had previously targeted, per an episode of the Game Mess Mornings podcast. Rockstar Games' behemoth was cited as one possible reason for the push back because, well, all eyes will inevitably be on GTA 6 later this year, and I can't imagine another open-world game faring well alongside it.

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"That doesn't mean that it's coming out next year," Grubb said. "Apparently they're still trying to get it out this year, but they are worried about the launch of GTA 6. And so if it's getting delayed beyond the release of GTA 6, that could push it into December, which might make it a prime candidate to get delayed into 2027."

Playground Games, on the other hand, isn't budging. "Excited to welcome you back to Albion in Autumn 2026," a tweet from the developer posted just this morning reads.

Xbox has a pretty stacked lineup of new games with or without the fairytale romp, though. Playground Games' Forza Horizon 6 comes out next month, while Halo: Campaign Evolved, Minecraft Dungeons 2, Gears of War: E-Day, and another inevitable Call of Duty game remain undated.

Squeezing a massive RPG into that already packed schedule before the alarm bells kick off and we're officially too close to GTA 6 will be tough, but I've been waiting well over a decade for a new Fable game. What's another year?

Xbox Games Studio boss Craig Duncan previously told GamesRadar+ in an interview that, yeah, the company is always keeping its eye on the release calendar to do "what we should do for the best of our games." But take all this speculation with a jug of salt until Xbox comes out and says otherwise.

OG Fable designer Peter Molyneux cried tears of joy watching Xbox reveal the new reboot, even though he thinks "there was a slight antiseptic feel about it."