Beautiful open world exploration game Sable is being released on September 23

(Image credit: Shedworks)

We've had our eye on Sable for quite some time, and now the game finally has a release date: September 23. The date was announced at the Summer Game Fest via a beautiful, haunting performance by the wonderful Japanese Breakfast.

Sable is a stylish open world exploration game inspired by Studio Ghibli movies and the art of Jean 'Moebius' Giraud. You travel a sprawling desert to seek out monuments, monoliths, and other characters, each of which tells its own tale.

The story is structured in an interesting way, seeing you piecing together a larger narrative from small chunks of uncovered plot. As you do so you'll get to zip around the dunes on a very neat-looking hoverbike, exploring derelict spaceships and listening to whispered rumours from merchants.

Sable's release has been pushed back a few times. It was originally due for release in 2019, which became 2020, but now, this September, it's definitely coming out. Well, we hope so anyway. Sable will also be playable on day one on Xbox Game Pass.

The game will feature hand-crafted environments, the ability to upgrade your hoverbike and change your clothes, and a focus on puzzles over combat.

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If it’s set in space, Andy will probably write about it. He loves sci-fi, adventure games, taking screenshots, Twin Peaks, weird sims, Alien: Isolation, and anything with a good story.