PC Fable III due May 17

Microsoft's Fable franchise has had a choppy history on the publisher's most prevalent platform, Windows. After the original Fable saw a delayed PC release in 2005, Microsoft and developer Lionhead Studios opted to skip the platform for 2008's Fable II. In May 2010, Microsoft confirmed that the third installment in the Fable franchise would see a PC release. However, by August, Microsoft said that release wouldn't accompany the Xbox 360 version, which hit store shelves in October.

Those wondering if Fable III on the PC would suffer the same fate as the Windows version of Alan Wake can now be put at ease. Microsoft confirmed today that the PC edition of Fable III will arrive in the US on May 17. Fable III on the PC will feature a handful of tweaks over the well-regarded Xbox 360 version, including an update to stereoscopic 3D and an exclusive hardcore mode, which raises the game's difficulty level.

A PC date wasn't the only piece of Fable III news to come out of today's Microsoft's 2011 Showcase. The publisher also attached a March 1 release date to Traitor's Keep, the next add-on for the Xbox 360 version of the game. Available for 560 Microsoft points ($7), Traitor's Keep features three new levels--Ravenscar Keep, Clockwork Island, and the Godwin Estate--each of which offers new quests to undertake.

For more on Traitor's Keep, check out GameSpot's preview of the add-on from Microsoft's event.