Players have returned to the old legend games after the recent Xbox Showcase

Many, myself included, feared the worst for a reboot of Playground Games Fable. After its official reveal in the summer of 2020, news about the title was relatively sparse, and over the next five years, Microsoft laid off thousands of employees, closed studios and canceled several games, including Rare's Everwild and The Initiative's Perfect Dark reboot. There were reasonable fears that, given the fable's apparent absence, it would be next on the chopping block.

Those concerns were completely unfounded when, late last week, Microsoft hosted a developer live that provided a much deeper look at the new Fable, including its first gameplay reveal.

The reveal was well-received by Fable fans around the world, and apparently, it left them pining for an Albion adventure, as they've flooded in their droves to previous Fable titles.

Fable is back as fans return to the old Fable games

In the story, the protagonist talks to a homeless man sitting on the grass.

Steam players don't have many options when it comes to older Fable titles. The Valve-owned platform has two titles: Fable Anniversary, a remaster of the original Fable game, and Fable – The Lost Chapters.

While the pickings are slim, that hasn't discouraged Fable fans, as both games have seen a huge influx of players.

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Despite being a “really central” part of Fable, the new game doesn't morph your look based on your morals.

If you want horns, you have to go back to Fable 2.

In the last 24 hours, Fable Anniversary racked up 3,737 players on Steam, according to SteamDB. That's a 789.8 percent increase from its December peak, and the highest number of concurrent players since its launch 11 and a half years ago in September 2014.

Fable – The Lost Chapters saw a similar rise in its fortunes. While not as impressive as Anniversary, The Lost Chapters saw 567 concurrent players, a 600 percent increase from December. It was the highest since July 2014, again, nearly 11 and a half years ago.

Of course, this resurgence in players can easily be tracked only on Steam, but you have to imagine, given the accessibility of Xbox Game Pass games, that the Fable franchise is seeing a similar revival on Microsoft's platforms, especially with each title available there.

The appetite for Fable is clearly still there, and, quite frankly, its release can't come soon enough.