Torment: Tides of Numenera Now Available on Steam Early Access

After an early release that was limited to backers of the project who pledged at an appropriate tier or bought the add-on, Torment: Tides of Numenera’s beta build has been released on Steam Early Access for $44.99/€41.99. To celebrate the occasion, the folks at inXile have released a new Early Access trailer that showcases a good number of visually distinct areas for the game:

inXile has also sent a press release that offhandedly notes that by now the game has been supported with more than 90,000 pledges by backers, for a total of more than $5 million raised via crowdfunding since the launch of the Kickstarter campaign:

Torment: Tides of Numenera Launches on Steam Early Access

Newport Beach, California January 26, 2016 inXile Entertainment’s Torment: Tides of Numenera, the long-awaited thematic successor to Planescape: Torment, is now available to a general audience on Steam Early Access!

Having raised over $5 million from more than 90,000 pledges, Torment sits in the top 5 most funded Kickstarter projects of all time. Torment: Tides of Numenera is a story-driven, isometric cRPG in the style of the legendary Infinity Engine games. With carefully crafted writing and a beautifully detailed combination of 2D and 3D graphics, Torment is a masterpiece that evokes the spirit of the critically acclaimed original cult classic. Now, the title comes to Steam Early Access, which allows inXile to continue to work with the community in order to improve the game before its final release.

Involving many of the original creators of Planescape: Torment, such as Chris Avellone, Colin McComb and Mark Morgan, Torment tells a deep and emotional story set in Monte Cook’s unique Ninth World from the new award-winning Numenera pen and paper game. Explore a world unlike any other to find your answer to the question “What does one life matter?”

“Torment is a game we couldn’t be more excited about,” says Brian Fargo, CEO. “Our fans have placed their trust in us to deliver an experience that lives up to their expectations, and as we did with Wasteland 2, we intend to work with them to deliver it. We take the Early Access program as a very serious step for us to improve the game based on the community’s feedback. Iteration is paramount to me and this helps to guide us putting our efforts into crafting a game worthy of the Torment name.)

About inXile Entertainment
Founded by long-time industry veteran Brian Fargo in 2002, inXile Entertainment develops interactive entertainment software, recently shifting its focus back to computer RPGs, the genre Brian helped establish in the early 1980s when he founded Interplay. inXile has embraced a crowdfunding business model, having produced Wasteland 2 to critical acclaim, with Torment: Tides of Numenera and The Bard’s Tale IV crowdfunded and in production. For more information about inXile Entertainment visit: http://www.inxile-entertainment.com

Planescape: Torment is a registered trademark of Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast.
Numenera is a registered trademark of Monte Cook Games.
Torment is a registered trademark of inXile Entertainment.

I’m very, very curious to see how Torment: Tides of Numenera will turn out. Planescape: Torment is a game that is near and dear to my heart and I jumped at the chance to support this project via Kickstarter, but I’m not really interested in playing the early builds and giving feedback. If the game’s quality is even vaguely comparable to the original, the game deserves an immaculate first playthrough. That said, I’m definitely very interested in hearing the feedback this beta will receive, especially from players who weren’t necessarily backers of the crowdfunding campaign.