More confirmations of worst kept secrets out of GamesCom, as Peter Molyneux officially announces Fable 3 (this time outside a wedding notice, or Twitter). Staying true to the world of Albion, Fable 3 will place the player as a ruler on the rise five decades after Fable 2, and of course involve a ultra-dynamic, super-revolutionary, totally-working-properly morality system to document it all. Here’s the lead off from the press release:

COLOGNE, Germany – 19 August 2009 – Alexander the Great. Genghis Khan. Queen Elizabeth I. Che Guevara. Throughout history, revolutionary leaders have taken very different paths to power, bringing about prosperity and poverty, peace and sometimes anarchy to their people. Now Microsoft Corp. and Lionhead Studios will explore the journey to rule, with you in pursuit of a kingdom, in “Fable III,” the exciting new game in the critically acclaimed “Fable” franchise. The title’s debut was confirmed today at GamesCom in Germany by Peter Molyneux, Lionhead’s creative director, and will be available exclusively on Xbox 360 in the 2010 holiday season.

So there’s at least another year until it’s release, if it stays on target.

The character the player controls in Fable 3 is going to be the child of the hero from Fable 2.  To me, this would mean a great set up for a character rollover (a-la Mass Effect 2), to show what alignment your parent took.  Or, you know, they might just cop out and make you one of the polygamist hero’s thousands of illegitimate offspring, who always got told that his daddy was a travelling salesman.

On the back of this announcement however, was the news that because “there are some who still have not experienced the magic and adventures that await them in Albion” Fable 2 is going to be cut up into episode sized chunks and sold over Xbox Live. First taste is free, too, like the best of gateway drugs. The episodes will contain the same achievements and DLC compatibility as the original, so as not to penalise the episodic players.

You can browse through the full press release here, the reveal trailer here and read all about the rest here.

I can only assume this one came about by either chance Googling or a misprinted article, but according to a recent marriage announcement in the New York Times, Lionhead’s Fable 3 could already be in the early stages of production.

Mr. Atkins, 34, is the lead game designer for Fable III, a video game series produced by Lionhead Studios in Guildford, England. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

-New York Times, 26th of June

If it’s true, then it’s the most amusing place I’ve seen a rumour come out of in a little while. Given that I still haven’t played Fable 2 however (residual bad feelings over the first), the news hasn’t really excited me much. Maybe it’s time to give it a chance, I’m sure hundreds of copies are probably clogging up pre-owned shelves at the moment.

Given that Molyneux has stated in the past that they have plans for Fable 3, 4 and 5, it’s probably safe to say that this isn’t just rumour, but as no-one has made an official announcement yet, we’ll stick this one as “highly probable”.  An even better rumour would be that players take the role of 11 year old Milo in Fable 3, and you battle enemies for PR domination … but I just made that up.  To the hashtags!

Anyhoo, read the announcement for yourself. And don’t forget to congratulate the happy couple!