🚨 FABLE DEVS FORGOT TO FIX MALES – ARMY OF “GIRLY BOYS” INVADING ALBION?! Fans RIOTING Over ZESTY Walks & Pretty Faces! 🤮😤🔥
Xbox Direct bombshell: Character creator DROPS “ugly girlboss” – but males strut like runway models?! Same FEMININE sway, androgynous vibes – “They copy-pasted the chick animation!” Backlash EXPLODING… Or desperate last-minute patch job?
The HIDDEN dev blunder EXPOSED – click before they NERF it! 👇
The latest gameplay teaser for Playground Games’ Fable reboot, unveiled at Xbox Developer Direct on January 22, 2026, was meant to quell months of controversy over a fixed female protagonist. Instead, it unleashed a fresh wave of outrage: fans are slamming the male character designs and animations as “girly boys,” with “zesty” walking cycles that appear identical to the female ones. Viral YouTube videos titled “Fable devs FORGOT TO FIX walking animation for male characters. They made a bunch of ‘GIRLY BOYS'” have racked up tens of thousands of views, while Reddit’s r/Fable subreddit and X erupt with memes, rants, and boycott calls. One X user fumed, “Fable DROPS Masculine Lead But Features FEMININE Men, UGLY Models & Mid Animations.”
Playground Games, the Forza Horizon studio behind the Xbox exclusive launching Autumn 2026, confirmed full character customization – male or female – in a post-trailer Xbox Wire interview. But players zeroed in on demo footage showing lithe, androgynous male models with soft features (“pretty boys”) and a swaying hip walk that critics call effeminate or “zesty.” “Why is the male walking animation so zesty?” one Reddit thread queried, amassing dozens of replies agreeing it feels “copied from the woman.” NeoGAF users mocked it as a “modern audience” pivot, tying it to broader “woke” fears.
The uproar follows a pattern: Early trailers featuring a singular, ambiguous female lead (dubbed “ugly girlboss”) sparked “woke slop” accusations. The creator reveal was hailed by some as a “surrender to chuds,” but the male options fell flat.
Xbox Developer Direct: Hype Meets Backlash
Xbox’s January 22 showcase kicked off 2026 with Fable‘s first extended gameplay: fairy-tale visuals, chicken-kicking callbacks, and a robust creator letting players sculpt heroes from burly warriors to ethereal elves. Creative director Bill Stillwell told Xbox Wire: “Character customization is one that we were delighted to clear up,” emphasizing choice without the original series’ morality-based transformations (no horns or halos).
Praise poured in for the vibrant Albion – “stunning open-world action-RPG” per IGN – but nitpicks dominated discourse. At 6:49 in the trailer, a male hero’s strut drew fire: hips swaying, arms loose, pace dainty. “They gotta fix that zest walking animation lol,” a YouTuber quipped in reactions. Reddit: “The mans walking animation is literally the exact same as the women’s.”
Key Fan Complaints from Trailer (Reddit/X/YouTube)
Examples
Walking Animation
“Zesty/feminine sway on males; copy-paste from female”
Male Models
“Pretty boys, androgynous, no rugged options”
Overall Designs
“Ugly/mid models, woke uglification”
Animations
“Mid/effeminate movements”
Timeline of Fable Reboot Controversies
Fable, revived after Lionhead’s 2016 closure, has courted drama since Playground’s 2020 reveal.
Date/Event
Development/Backlash
2020 State of Play Trailer
Hype builds; fairy-tale style praised
2023-2025 Trailers
Fixed female lead sparks “woke” cries; “ugly protagonist”
Jan 22, 2026: Developer Direct
Creator confirmed; male “girly boys” backlash erupts
Jan 23-24: Viral Videos
“Forgot to fix males” trends; 44K+ views
Fan Divide: ‘Zesty’ Designs or Placeholder?
Supporters argue it’s alpha footage: “Last-minute creator addition,” per YouTubers, explaining animation glitches. Playground’s racing roots shine in world-building, but RPG fans demand polish. X splits: Some riot (“Fable surrenders but still mid”), others defend (“Fairytale aesthetic fits”).
Broader context: Gaming’s character design wars rage post-Concord, Star Wars Outlaws. Fable’s whimsical tone – kicking chickens stays – clashes with calls for hyper-masculine heroes. No dev response to animations yet; Stillwell focused on “immersive choices.”
What’s Next for Albion?
Autumn 2026 looms with high expectations: 65M+ sales across originals, Xbox Game Pass day-one. Wishlists surge post-Direct, but review-bomb fears linger if unaddressed. Mods could fix walks on PC, but console players fume.
Xbox touts it as “a new beginning,” but fans demand rugged males sans sass. As one Redditor summed: “Does Fable’s New Direction Still Feel Like Fable?” With polish time aplenty, Playground can course-correct – or fuel the fire.
