Over seven years ago, Lionhead Studios’ Fable III was released. Some loved it, some hated it, but most agreed it wasn’t as good as the previous two games. Still, it was assumed at the time that work would then begin on Fable IV, which would hopefully get back to focusing on what fans of the series loved so much about earlier games.

Then came some unexpected curve balls. First, it was revealed that the next game would actually be a free-to-play co-op game titled Fable Legends, and that Fable IV wasn’t being worked on at all. Then, just before it was supposed to be released, Legends was abruptly canceled and Lionhead shut down by Microsoft. And though Xbox head Phil Spencer didn’t rule out the possibility of a new game in the future, fans moved on with little hope.

Now, nearly two years after Legends was killed off (believe it or not), whispers of a possible Fable IV existing have started to make the rounds. Nothing below is confirmation that a new game is happening, but if you dream of the day a new entry in the series will arrive, it certainly is intriguing.

A few years back we were surprised to find out that a prequel to developer Lionhead Studios’ Fable franchise was in the works titled Fable Legends, and that it would be a co-op game instead of the single-player RPG faithful fans of the series originally fell in love with. To make matters worse, it was made clear that the Fable IV everyone wanted and had been waiting for, at that time, for three years wasn’t being worked on at all. Said fans were confused, but many tried to remain open-minded.

Then came another surprise. A little over a year ago, when Fable Legends seemed close to a release and was even being played in a closed beta, the game was canceled and Lionhead closed.

It’s now been nearly seven years since Fable III was released, and while the current state of the Fable franchise is quite depressing, it seemed unlikely such a popular franchise it would stay dead forever. Unfortunately I can’t report today that the series is being revived, but a comment from the head of Xbox recently did not rule out the possibility.

A few months back now the gaming world was shocked by the news that Microsoft had decided to close down the game studio behind the beloved Fable franchise, Lionhead Studios, and cancel the latest game in the series, Fable Legends.

But, as it turns out, Legends was not the only project that was being worked on by Lionhead. A much smaller unannounced game titled Fable Fortune was also being developed. But instead of just tossing it in the garbage, as appears to be the fate of Legends, Microsoft granted permission to those who were developing it to continue working on it under their own new studio, Flaming Fowl Studios. To gather the funds for what could be the last Fable game we see in a long time, they’re looking to fans on Kickstarter. Continue below for more info and to see their pitch video, as well as some gameplay videos.

Well then…did not see this one coming.

Microsoft Studios has announced that Fable Legends, the latest title in Lionhead Studios’ Fable game series that’s been in the works for a few years now, has been canceled, and that Lionhead itself might get shut down.

You can read the full announcement below.

It’s already been a couple of years now—believe it or not—since we first found out that Lionhead Studios, developer of the hit Fable video game series, was focusing all of their efforts on a co-op prequel titled Fable Legends that we eventually would find out is a four-vs-one free-to-play game instead of the expected Fable IV.

The game is still well on its way, and has been in a closed beta for a while now, collecting valuable feedback from those invited to play to use in polishing what will become the final product. An open beta of the game where any and all who wanted to test it out could do just that has been in the plans as well, but today comes word that anyone waiting for that opportunity will have to wait a little bit longer as the open beta has been pushed back to spring of 2016. You can read the announcement from Lionhead and see a video talking about their decision below.