Fable Legends, Lionhead Studio’s latest adventure into Albion, will be free to play according to the game’s website. Lionhead details their approach to the model:
You’ll be able to play Fable Legends from beginning-to-end without spending a penny. That means you’ll have access to the entirety of Fable Legends’ storyline and all of the quests we release this year and forever.
Additionally, Lionhead promises that all gameplay-affecting items can be earned without spending any real world currency. The in-game currency is silver, and that is gathered by killing baddies as the Heroes or trouncing Heroes as the Villain. Gold is the premium currency that is bought with cold, hard cash. Gold can be redeemed for most of the same items that players can buy with silver.
Fable Legends will also feature Hero rotation. At any time, a revolving door of four Heroes will be available to play for free. If you find one you particularly like, spend silver or gold to make them permanently available. All progression is saved per Hero, so you can pick up where you left off when a Hero rotates out of free use and comes back later.
Villains fight the four Heroes teamed up against him or her using monsters. Different monster species are native to different parts of Albion, but spend gold or silver to use any monster in any area. Also, a wide array of traps are available for purchase as well.
Fable Legends is an asymmetrical multiplayer game where four Heroes band together against one Villain. Heroes play from a third-person perspective, much like the previous Fable games. Villains view the battlefield from a top-down vantage point and use traps and monsters to kill the pesky Heroes.
Have more questions? Check out the free-to-play FAQ here and the reveal video below. The game doesn’t have a set release date yet, but the website says to expect launch next fall for Xbox Live Gold members on the Xbox One and PC. Cross-play will be implemented as well.