Xbox One's Fable Legends Beta Starts on Thursday

The previously announced closed beta for upcoming Xbox One role-playing game Fable Legends will begin this Thursday (October 16) when developer Lionhead Studios invites a "handful" of players to try it out, the studio said in a post on its website. The developer also stressed that the closed beta for the RPG will be "real," in that Lionhead hopes you'll provide detailed feedback to help make the game better.

"We're inviting fans to help test the game as early in the development process as possible," Lionhead said. "Not only do we want your help with identifying bugs, glitches, and crashes, we also want to hear your ideas, feedback, and suggestions!"

Players chosen for the Fable Legends closed beta will help test a "small slice" of the game. Over the following months, Lionhead will slowly introduce more content and features, the studio said, adding that it will also invite additional players to the beta over time.

"Ultimately, we hope to have a significant portion of our registrants in game before we leave closed beta," Lionhead said. If you haven't signed up already, it's not too late, as you can still do so through the Fable Legends website today. Lionhead says you can increase your chances of getting invited to the beta by joining its forums, and following its Twitter and Facebook accounts.

If you are selected to take part in the Fable Legends beta, you'll be notified through email. Emails regarding the beta will come from an address ending in @-email.microsoft.com. Lionhead warns that "anything else is fake!"

Fable Legends was originally announced in August 2013, during last year's Gamescom. It is powered by Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4, and lets up to four players journey through the fictional world of Albion together. Players can also choose to become the villain, and are able to issue commands to nefarious creatures about which player to attack and which abilities to use to thwart their advances.

Though the beta for Fable Legends begins this year, the full game's release date has not been announced. When it is finally released, Microsoft expects the game to enjoy a long life of 5-10 years. For more on Fable Legends, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.