Fable 3 PC demo due on launch day

A demo for the PC edition of Lionhead's Brit-tastic RPG Fable III is slated to launch alongside the full game on May 17, Microsoft's Larry 'Major Nelson' Hyrb revealed in the latest Xbox Live Marketplace schedule. Tally ho!

Fable 3 on PC

This news is another indication that publisher Microsoft is committed to the PC edition. Over the past few years it's repeatedly vowed to better support PC gaming but failed to deliver anything spectacular. Hopefully Microsoft really means it this time, starting with Fable III.

Fable 3 PC boasts a hardcore mode, new content, keyboard and mouse controls, 3D support, and other fancy features, all detailed in a video developer diary last month. As well as being sold digitally through Microsoft's own Games for Windows Marketplace, it'll also be available through competitor Valve's infinitely-more-popular Steam.

Pre-ordering Fable III from Steam will net you four extra weapons and five bonus tattoo sets, while Games for Windows offers a free copy of Fable: The Lost Chapters--an expanded version of the first game. You'll have to imagine what happens between that and Fable 3, though, as Fable 2 has never been released for PC.