Fable Isn't Dead, With a New Card Game Coming From Ex-Lionhead Devs

A new digital card game based on the Fable RPG series called Fable Fortune is in the works, and it's coming to Kickstarter this week.

The game was originally an idea pitched for Fable 2, but it only entered development at Lionhead in 2014, according to IGN. With Lionhead now shut down, Microsoft is allowing the Fable license to be used by a new indie studio founded by a group of ex-Lionhead employees--Craig Oman, Mike West, and Marcus Lynn--who intend to finish the game.

Fortune is described as being similar to Hearthstone, but it offers new features like a cooperative mode where two players team up against the AI and a leveling system for cards. Playing on Fable's morality system, it also has mid-game quests where players are able to make a choice between good and evil that impacts their cards and chosen hero character. Those cards and heroes will be based on well-known and obscure characters and foes from the Fable games, as well as concepts that never ended up being used in them.

Microsoft is not set to publish Fortune. As a result, the new studio, Flaming Fowl Studios, is turning to Kickstarter to help make the game a reality. The month-long crowdfunding campaign begins on Tuesday, May 31 at 7am Pacific and will be seeking £250,000 (about $366,000). A closed beta should be available a few weeks after the campaign ends, with an open beta following on PC and Xbox One in October. The full game is slated for release in late 2017.

Fable developer Lionhead was shut down in late April following the cancellation of Fable Legends. Microsoft reportedly declined offers to sell the studio due to an unwillingness to part ways with the Fable license.