Fable – it’s been nearly three years since this reveal (pic: Microsoft)

The Xbox summer showcase sounds poised to once again not feature Fable or Perfect Dark, with the former only just entering full production.

After a rather lacklustre 2022 in terms of first party exclusives, Microsoft promised that 2023 would be an ‘incredibly exciting year’ for Xbox fans, something that said fans were quick to be sceptical about.

Even after its January showcase, the company has yet to provide firm release dates for exclusives like Forza Motorsport and Starfield, with the latter meant to be getting a dedicated showcase in the near future.

If you were hoping that this year would at least provide an update on the long awaited Fable reboot, perhaps at Microsoft’s summer showcase, you’d best stop hoping as it’s claimed that the game is still ‘miles away.’

The same can also be said for Perfect Dark and Rare’s Everwild, both of which were announced in 2020 and 2019 respectively and are believed to be experiencing troubled development.

This begs the question what the next big Xbox exclusives are for Microsoft besides Starfield, which are suggested to be Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 and Avowed.

This comes from VGC’s Andy Robinson, who spoke on the VGC podcast about Microsoft’s short-term plans after Starfield, which is meant to be out by the end of June but is rumoured to be delayed to the second half of 2023.

‘I think the nearest ones for them are Hellblade [2] and probably Avowed,’ he says when asked about what could come after Starfield. ‘That’s the next big thing for them that they’ll be talking about. From my understanding those two are the closest.’

He adds that not only is Fable ‘miles away,’ but he heard it only recently entered full production despite being announced almost three years ago.

VGC’s Jordan Miller also mentions that, from conversations he’s had with the development team at Playground Games, the new Fable could be more similar to CD Projekt’s The Witcher games than previous Fable titles.

It’s not clear whether he means in terms of the overall gameplay or general tone, with only the term ‘Witcher-like’ being thrown around, but Miller believes such a decision could risk angering established Fable fans.