‘Fable Anniversary’ Delayed Until February 2014

Fable Anniversary has been delayed until next year, Lionhead announced Friday.

In a blog post on Lionhead’s website, lead designer Ted Timmins said that the studio needed more time to make the “best game possible” for fans.

“We’ve been working hard for the past year to bring you the very best Fable Anniversary experience on Xbox 360,” Timmins said. “We feel though, that we need a little more time in order to meet our ambitions and give you, the fans, the best game possible.”

Timmins also said that, to make up for the delay, Lionhead would be sharing more screenshots and footage.

“It’s not easy making these decisions and I know that us asking you to wait a little longer whilst we get to play test the game every day is downright unfair, so over the next few weeks we’re going to be sharing with you more screenshots, more game footage and perhaps even some… top secret announcements,” he said.

According to the blog post, Fable Anniversary will be available in stores and online via the Xbox Games Store in February 2014.

Lionhead also hosted an #AskTeamFable Q&A on Twitter Friday evening. The studio confirmed that it would be looking into a PC version once the 360 version is completed, and that the game would contain all of the content from Fable: The Lost Chapters. The game will also feature a new user interface and achievements, as well as Smartglass support.

The original Fable was released in 2004 and has spawned two proper sequels and a spinoff (Fable: The Journey). Creator Peter Molyneux announced that Lionhead has plans for a fourth and fifth installment in the series. The British video game designer left Lionhead and Microsoft after Fable: The Journey was completed, and said he was unsure about Fable Legends, the first game in the series to be created without his involvement.