Fable Legends

Fable Legends is a free-to-play multiplayer action RPG in the Fable series that was canceled during its closed beta testing phase. Set in the land of Albion several hundred years before the events of the original Fable trilogy, the game depicted an era dominated by magic, folklore, and mythology, where technology was scarce and small villages huddled in fear of the unknown. In this world without a formal Hero's Guild, heroes assembled to undertake cooperative quests, such as retrieving ancient artifacts like the "Moon on a Stick," which legend held could grant wishes to the children of Albion.

Gameplay centered on asymmetric online multiplayer sessions pitting four heroes against one villain, with roles fillable by human players or AI to enable solo play. Heroes, drawn from a rotating roster of characters with unique abilities—such as the melee-focused Sterling, ice-wielding Winter, ranged crossbow specialist Rook, or shield-bearing paladin Inga—could customize their appearance, weapons, armor, and skills using in-game silver or real-money purchases for certain cosmetics.

Players could play mini-games in a hub city called Brightlodge before entering villain-crafted dungeons. The villain player designed levels by placing traps, gates, and minions with "creature points," then commanded them in real-time via RTS-like controls to ambush and obstruct the heroes. The game featured cross-platform progression and play.

Development of Fable Legends began in 2012 after Microsoft mandated that the next Fable game needed to be a live service title, rejecting a proposal for a single-player Fable IV. The game was announced on August 20, 2013 and entered closed beta testing on October 16, 2014. An open beta was scheduled for early 2016, however, Microsoft cancelled the game on March 7, 2016 in order to "refocus its investment and development on the games and franchises that fans find most exciting and engaging to play", providing refunds for all purchases. The servers were shut down on April 13, and Lionhead Studios was closed by the end of that month.