Lionhead Studios on Fable II Online Co-op Patch

Lionhead's senior community manager Sam Van Tilburgh has posted a new entry to the Fable II development blog concerning their decision to patch online co-op into the game after its release.
It's true that most people on the development team are still working on Fable II even though the game has gone gold. The reason for this is the patch to enable people to play online co-op over Xbox LIVE.

Everyone here at Lionhead and Microsoft Game Studios are committed to having the long-awaited title on store shelves on October 21 and 24, so that everyone can start playing the rich single player story. You are also able to start playing the game with a friend on the couch; local co-op is in Fable II. Online co-op is also going to be in Fable II; we are doing everything we can to have this important feature in the game. We want you to be able to show off to your friends and play together, over LIVE.

The team here in Guildford and over in Redmond are working hard to release the LIVE co-op update (patch) for download, within a week of launch. In an ideal world it's going to be available on the first day but right now we can't say for sure if we're able to do this. Some of us are really tired and rightly so. I hear people say they are busting their balls. How does it feel? (Like A Rolling Stone - 1966)

On day of release gamers are able to play the rich single player experience and start spending the gold they've earned via the hugely popular pub games. Plus gamers will still be able to see their friends online as "orbs" as they are moving through the world, as well as chat and trade items with them plus play with friends in local co-op.

How does it feel? It's a bummer, but not the end of the world, please don't troll.