According to a statement by Microsoft on Friday Fable II, the sequel to Peter Molyneux’ critically acclaimed and equally hyped Fable, will be released without its promised co-operative online mode, at least at launch.

Microsoft said the game is complete, and is off to the plant for mastering and replication. Unfortunately, the game’s co-op mode is yet incomplete, and in order to avoid either a delay in release date or the rush-through of the feature, they have decided to include the co-op feature in a later patch which is to be released in a matter of weeks. This move comes despite the fact that the co-operative mode was one of Fable II’s most hyped and awaited features.

Until the full implementation of the feature, Microsoft says that players will still be able to see other online players as orbs during the game, and will be able to trade with them.

Press and bloggers are unsure whether to commend the move as dedication to offering a complete, un-rushed product, or berate them for their slacking off and delivering an un-finished product.

Another console game to be released without its co-op feature is the Playstation 3 game LittleBigPlanet, which will not feature the co-operative game creation mode from the get-go. This may develop into a worrying trend if developers for consoles, which usually have high standards of QA to prevent buggy games from being released, get lax, and start releasing unfinished games, just because they know they can patch them at a later date.