Microsoft will give them the time they need, and honestly, I don't see Fable anytime before late 2021. I'm 90% sure it'll be sometime in 2022 though. Pre-development started in mid-2017 and it's unknown when or even if it started full-production. Issue is, Fable's team doesn't even have its own Creative Director yet (Ralph is filling in for now) so I'm honestly uncertain if full-development has really started. Whenever it starts though I'm expecting 3~ years. And that is dependent on all sorts of things. I have a hunch they're going to try to use ForzaTech for Fable (there's a lot that's been stated which makes me believe that and job listings have stopped mentioning them) and if that's true, it's entirely possible it'll take even longer. The two studios are supposed to stay very close culture-wise and that's one reason I believe ForzaTech will be used. The Unreal listings couldn't been for a prototype too. Thing with engines is that since they're a suite of tools, they can be completely modified into whatever is needed. Change every tool in the engine and you practically have a new one.
Microsoft hasn't officially stated it, but I'm going to go with 100% yes. They partnered with MS during the announcement for two Xbox One X giveaways and other things. Press announcement from EA also lists Xbox One first. Sony wouldn't allow the giveaways at all. Microsoft might because they aren't totalitarian in their marketing.
I had a feeling MS would get it because its Respawn, but once I heard Vince say Xbox One first I was sure.
The pre-order on the
Microsoft Store details A LOT more about the game (read the description, it sounds great) than the
PlayStation one does too.