We have some interesting new rumors about two of Xbox’s biggest upcoming releases.
As shared on Twitter by Rebs Gaming, Microsoft is targeting an October to December 2025 release date for Fable. A few months earlier, Tom had also heard that Gears of War E-Day would also be releasing in 2025, earlier than Fable. This information comes from Tom Warren, in the latest edition of his subscription newsletter Notepad.
While Microsoft held a very impressive Xbox Games Showcase over the last week, it was hampered by the lack of release dates. Things are definitely looking better for Xbox owners now than, say, in 2021, but they aren’t quite in the position where they are now swimming in those AAA first party games.
Expectations are high for both Fable and Gears of War E-Day to deliver to expectations. Above all things, this won’t be about making better games than is available from PlayStation 5 or Steam, as much as it is in making fans satisfied that their purchase of their Xbox consoles has been worthwhile. There are other upsides to having an Xbox Series X|S, such as Game Pass, but this is a promise that Microsoft is yet to meet. It certainly looks like they will be able to deliver.
But on top of that, both games are going to face stiff competition in 2025. Grand Theft Auto 6 leads the charge on AAAs planned to release in that year, and they seem set to go on a collision course with Fable. Of course, the video game industry isn’t actually a dog-eat-dog world anymore, as both Microsoft and Rockstar Games have other live service titles to keep them profitable outside of these games.
The big struggle for Fable, then, will be its ability to keep consumer’s attention upon release. If Microsoft pulls out the hefty marketing budget for a mainstream promotional push, they just might be able to pull it off.
But other 2025 releases include Monster Hunter Wilds, Judas, and Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra. They also include other Microsoft titles already announced for 2025, Doom: The Dark Ages, as well as South of Midnight.
It may simply be the case that the industry can’t really help it if they have to keep working on these games for much longer than before, to ensure that they are up to stuff. Microsoft may also already have a timetable planned for all four of these 2025 titles so far to spread out across the year. But one can’t help but wonder if Microsoft just might delay a title or two, to accommodate for other games that were planned for 2024, and might end up getting delayed as well.
