Fable Reboot Scraps Co-op, Will Be a Single-Player Only Game

The upcoming Fable reboot will be a purely single-player experience, ditching the cooperative gameplay featured in the series' last two main entries. Developer Playground Games confirmed the news in an official FAQ, per Polygon.

Fable 2 and Fable 3 introduced co-op to the fantasy action-RPG series, with the third installment notably refining the feature. In Fable 3, a second player could create a fully customized "Hero" character with equal agency to the main player, a significant upgrade from the more limited "Henchman" role in Fable 2.

The co-op was particularly highlighted during Fable 3's second act, a quest called "Weight of the World." This section transformed the game into a kingdom management simulator where players had to make difficult moral and financial decisions together, such as whether to reinstitute child labor to raise funds or spend money on public works.

The decision to remove co-op comes even as other major Xbox studios, like The Coalition for Gears of War: E-Day, have emphasized local cooperative play as a core feature. The new Fable is scheduled for release next February.