In the summer of 2020, a pair of dormant Twitter handles sent the Xbox community into a frenzy. Tom Warren, senior editor at The Verge, tweeted images of Twitter accounts for Fable and Perfect Dark, both of which had been created that year. The rumor mill started churning immediately: were both games in development for the next-gen Xbox Series X? Aaron Greenberg, GM of marketing at Xbox Games, pumped the brakes on that theory. He said the accounts “have been inactive for years” and that “it’s standard practice to secure social handles for (our) IP.” But the internet, as it often does, refused to take its foot off the gas.

At the time, Xbox was preparing to showcase its studios’ offerings for the Series X console the following month. Halo was a safe bet. But if Xbox was going anywhere near the direction PlayStation had gone, fans expected reboots and games inspired by classic Xbox properties. The last full Fable game was Fable: The Journey in 2012. The actual last release in the franchise was Fable Fortune, a virtual card game that was discontinued in March 2020 and can no longer be played. Coincidentally—or maybe not—the Fable Twitter account was created in March. Related: A New Fable Game Should Launch With Xbox Series X.

All of this speculation hinged on tweets from Warren and Greenberg that were less than 100 words long. No other executives, creators, or people close to the story expanded on it. Greenberg himself hasn’t said anything further regarding it. Last year, there had been fairly solid evidence that Fable IV was in development, but it wasn’t mentioned at E3. Because of that leak, many fans had been patiently—or not so patiently—waiting for news on whether there would, in fact, be another installment in the Fable franchise. Hopes for a Perfect Dark reboot, however, should have been mitigated: there was no credible information about its development, and the Twitter account mentioned by Warren was unofficial. That perhaps undermined Greenberg’s claim that it is “standard practice to secure social handles for IP,” even if there was no immediate intention to create a new title.

Whatever Greenberg claimed, it was worth getting excited about the news. It appeared as though he was trying to get ahead of the hype, but in doing so, he undermined his own efforts for two reasons. First, the accounts were created that year. They weren’t “inactive for years” as he claimed. Second, if it really were standard practice to secure handles for IP—even if they don’t do anything with it—then it shouldn’t have been possible for someone other than a Microsoft employee to get that handle. But they did.

It looked like Fable IV was happening, or at least being seriously discussed. Perfect Dark, however, looked like it was getting left behind for now.

Fast forward to 2026, and the picture is much clearer. The Fable reboot was officially announced by Playground Games in July 2020, just weeks after those tweets. It received a cinematic trailer, then gameplay reveals in 2023 and 2024. After a delay into 2026, the game is finally poised for release. The Perfect Dark reboot, meanwhile, had a rockier road. The Initiative’s project was announced in 2020, showed gameplay in 2024, but was cancelled in 2025 amid a broader Microsoft restructuring. So Greenberg’s handle-securing explanation was technically accurate, but the smoke from those accounts did lead to fire—just not for both franchises.

Here’s a quick timeline of how the rumors and reality unfolded:

Year	Event
2012	Fable: The Journey releases
2020 (March)	Fable and Perfect Dark Twitter accounts are created
2020 (June)	Tom Warren tweets images; Aaron Greenberg responds
2020 (July)	Xbox Games Showcase; Fable reboot announced
2023–2024	Fable and Perfect Dark gameplay trailers arrive
2025	Perfect Dark is cancelled; Fable is delayed to 2026
2026	Fable is expected to launch; Perfect Dark remains dormant

In 2026, fans still treat social media handles like tea leaves. A new LinkedIn profile, a job listing, a domain registration—any of it can set the rumor mill spinning. The 2020 Fable and Perfect Dark saga was a masterclass in that art. Greenberg’s “inactive for years” line was false, but his broader point about securing IP was true. The lesson? A social media handle is not proof of a game, but it is smoke. And where there’s smoke, sometimes there’s a Fable. Sometimes, there’s just a cancelled Perfect Dark. Fans should keep their expectations in check, but they should also keep watching. After all, in the video game industry, today’s dormant Twitter account is tomorrow’s announcement trailer. Or tomorrow’s cancellation notice. Either way, it’s rarely boring. 😅