Perfect World Invests Heavily in Torchlight Developer

Perfect World Entertainment must see a lot of promise in Runic Games given their success with the release of Torchlight, as Gamasutra is reporting that the publisher has invested over $8 million into the company.

Just after Runic Games’ Torchlight revealed it had sold 500,000 units in six months, the game’s publisher, Perfect World, has bought an $8.4 million majority stake in the developer.

The details come from Perfect World’s first quarter financial results, where it said the strategic investment in Runic is geared at strengthening its R&D capabilities.

“By collaborating more closely with Runic’s professional team, we seek to combine their creativity and expertise in game development with our deep understanding of the online game market to create global titles,” says the company in a statement.

I really wish Runic would just implement a small four- or eight-man multiplayer component in Torchlight rather than spending a couple of years working on an MMO version. The addition of a cooperative element and server-saved characters could make Torchlight a serious contender to Diablo.