Like a phoenix from the ashes, the Fable series has been given a new lease of life following creator Lionhead's closure at the hands of Microsoft. 

Despite canning the next installment in the franchise, Fable Legends, Microsoft has given former Lionhead devs Mike West, Craig Oman, and Marcus Lynn -- now working under the Flaming Fowl banner -- permission to use the license to continue work on Fable Fortune. 

A previously unannounced card-battler, in the same vein as Blizzard's Hearthstone, Fable Fortune had been in development at Lionhead for 18 months before Microsoft pulled the rug from under the studio.

The game is set in the world of Albion, and will draw directly from the Fable series; revisiting locations, characters, and, of course, making of use of the name itself. 

"We approached Microsoft - hoping for the best, prepared for a corporate hand to the face. To our delight they were very open to the idea and agreed to grant us the license for Fable Fortune," said Flaming Fowl, expanding on how they secured the Fable license.

"To be clear, we haven’t been granted a license to the entire Fable franchise, Microsoft have retained these rights, but we have the creative freedom to continue developing Fortune as an independent studio.

"We care deeply about Fable and it means the world to us that Microsoft have trusted us to continue using the IP."

The fledgling studio has taken to Kickstarter to secure enough funds -- £250,000 ($364,000) to be exact -- to finish up development and launch the game, which is being created with the help of fellow UK dev, Mediatonic. 

As it stands, Fable Fortune has raised £5,065 ($7,374) of its target goal with 28 days left on the clock. If it secures funding, the game will launch on PC and Xbox One, before heading to iOS and Android devices sometime later.