Torchlight Activity Ramps Up, Franchise to Continue

Following the shuttering of Runic Games back in November of 2017, we assumed that the Torchlight franchise would go dormant perpetually, or at least for several years until the IP was picked up by another team. But that seems to be an incorrect theory, as the Runic Games Facebook page has been seeing a flurry of Torchlight-related activity and former CEO Max Schaefer has published a statement indicating that Perfect World is up to something that will keep the Torchlight franchise alive:

Hi everyone, Max Schaefer here. I’m the former co-founder and CEO of Runic Games, and I’m currently the CEO of Echtra Games, Inc. I just wanted to catch everyone up on why there are Torchlight posts popping up here and elsewhere, and a bit of overall context.

We all know the Runic Games office in Seattle was closed down following the completion of Hob. It is not relevant to revisit a very complex situation, but the important thing is it doesn’t mean the end of the Runic’s game franchises.

The big question here is why there are new posts being made about Torchlight. As was mentioned at the time of Runic’s closing, Perfect World has future plans for both of Runic’s franchises. Of course they can’t say what they are, but I know it’s exciting and cool, because, well, I know things. 🙂 So the whole idea here is to start to re-engage the community in preparation for future announcements. This isn’t just torturing you about a franchise you love, rather it’s an expression of affection and dedication to the franchise.

I’ve been flying below the radar the last couple years with our work here at Echtra Games, Inc. I still can’t talk about it, yet, but in my spare time I’m going to start to help with re-engaging with the Torchlight community. I can honestly say that in more than 25 years of game development (yikes), the Torchlight community was totally unique. There has never been a better, nicer, more helpful group of fans than you guys. I really mean that. I’ve worked on “bigger” games, but their communities were like most game communities, with too much toxicity and negativity. That was never true about the Torchlight community. You guys were FUN to make games for. It was rewarding and satisfying to see your reactions when we made an announcement or shipped a Torchlight game. So that’s why I’m back here now, and will keep hanging out to answer your questions when I can, and just to help keep everyone up to date.

Thank you all for your continued enthusiasm, and stick around, because really cool things are on the horizon!