Microsoft seems to be going all-in on fantasy RPGs. TheFablereboot in the hands of Playground Games was one of the July 2020 Xbox Games Showcase’s biggest announcements, bringing a classic RPG series back to life with the help of Microsoft’s new next-gen console. At the same time, Microsoft is now involved inThe Elder Scrolls 6thanks to its acquisition of RPG giant Bethesda. Instead of these games competing in-house, Xbox head Phil Spencer says thatThe Elder Scrolls 6won’t release until well afterFable,giving each game its own release date.The Elder Scrolls 6isn’t the only Xbox gameFableneeds to think about, though—there’s alsoAvowed.
Avowedwas one of the first games Obsidian Entertainment announced after it joined the Xbox Game Studios team. It’s a new take on the world ofPillars of Eternity,one of Obsidian’s dearly beloved RPG series. AlthoughAvowedpromises to be fairly different fromFable,one still wonders if the two games are on something of a collision course.Phil Spencer’s comments onFable’s releaserelative toThe Elder Scrolls 6are good to keep in mind, but Microsoft has to account forAvowedtoo. EitherFableorAvowedought to come out well before the other, just like howTES6is making space forFable.
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Will Avowed or Fable Release First?
There’s a chance thatAvowedwill beatFableto the punch. For one thing, even thoughFableandAvowedwere announced at around the same time, some signs suggest thatFableis farther behind. Playground Games keeps hiring people forFable,like one ofControl’s writers, to put the game together. If Playground is still assembling the team necessary to makeFablewhile Obsidian keeps working onAvowedwith its usual team, thenAvowedmight come out first. Obsidian could release it in the first half of 2023, meaningFablewould have to wait for the second of the year.
On the other hand,Fablehas a few significant advantages overAvowed.For one thing, Obsidian Entertainment is working on a lot of big games right now betweenAvowed, Grounded,andThe Outer Worlds 2.The pressure on the studio could make Obsidian slow down development onAvowedwhileFableprogresses toward a more timely release. For another thing,The Elder Scrolls 6’s release windowafterFablecould mean Microsoft plans to letAvowedcome out afterward too.The Elder Scrolls 6is a huge game for the Xbox. If it’s willing to prioritizeFableover such an important game, then it might want to prioritizeFableoverAvowedtoo.
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Microsoft’s RPG Release Schedule
All of this boils down to where Microsoft’s priorities lie. Information aboutFableandAvowedis too scarce overall to say how different these two games are, so for now, fans have to assume that they’re largely designed for the same broad audience of fantasy RPG fans. That means Microsoft has to space out its release dates as carefully as it’s doing withFableandThe Elder Scrolls 6.IfFableestablishes a whimsical, nostalgic aestheticwhileAvowedleans more heavily into its trailer’s dark imagery, then the two games might be able to coexist peacefully. For now, though, nothing is certain
For now, one wonders if Phil Spencer’s comments onFableandThe Elder Scrolls 6say anything forFable’s potential release window. If Microsoft has some sort of schedule to release these RPGs in mind, then it at least inspires some confidence thatFable’s early development is going well. Spencer does make it clear thatAvowedwill be out beforeElder Scrolls 6too, soAvowed’s development is hopefully going smoothly too. There’s no sign that either of these games will be out anytime soon, but one hopes they’re on track for 2023 releases at the very latest. BetweenFable, Avowed, The Elder Scrolls 6,and everything else being developed under Microsoft’s watchful eye, the latter years of the Xbox Series X won’t be short on games.
FableandAvowedare in development for PC and Xbox Series X.
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