Xbox Downplays Mysterious Fable And Perfect Dark Social Accounts

Microsoft has downplayed the significance of two social media accounts that reference Microsoft properties Fable and Perfect Dark, but fans aren't convinced. Last week, fans picked up on @fable and @PerfectDarkGame accounts, both of which were registered in early 2020. Verge journalist Tom Warren noticed that the Perfect Dark account was followed by a Microsoft employee, which turned out to be Ken Lobb, Creative Director at Microsoft Studios and former Perfect Dark developer. Warren also noted that the Fable account is registered to a Microsoft email address.

I’m not sure who discovered the @fable and @PerfectDarkGame placeholders, but a Microsoft Xbox employee is following one, and the other is registered to a Microsoft email address  pic.twitter.com/MagqUbPiZf

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) June 27, 2020

Xbox Games Marketing's Aaron Greenberg was quick to quash rumours about the accounts, replying to Warren's tweet and stating that "it's standard practice to secure social handles for our IP," noting that the accounts "have been inactive for years." However, it clearly says on the placeholder pages that both accounts joined Twitter in March and June of 2020, so what's really going on? The @PerfectDarkGame account subsequently tweeted to say that it had been acquired by a fan of the series, but was surprised to see Ken Lobb request to follow the page. Adding to the strangeness of the situation is the fact that both accounts were originally spotted with the display name "Placeholder" (which the Fable account still shows). [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/01/19/what-we-want-from-the-new-fable-unlocked-329-teaser"] Rumours around a potential revival for the Fable and Perfect Dark franchise have been swirling for some time. In the case of Fable 4, we've been reporting on that potential project for a few years now - here's what we'd like to see from a new game in the series. Many are hoping to see a reveal for one or both projects at July's showcase of first-party Xbox Series X games. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.