Torchlight II delayed to next year

Runic Games' first title, Torchlight, hit in 2009 and showed that the studio's team of ex-Diablo developers could still make a critically lauded dungeon crawler. The game's sequel was set to hit this year, but that plan has changed.

In a post to the official Torchlight blog today, Runic Games president Travis Baldree revealed that Torchlight II needs more time in development and will miss the targeted 2011 release window. The game has been in development for 18 months, and Baldree said the time needed to polish the game is "relatively small."

"We feel pretty safe in saying that if you enjoyed Torchlight at all, this sequel is superior in every respect. Right now our job is to ensure that the quality level is consistent all the way to the end," said Baldree.

Torchlight II will have gamers again embarking upon hack-and-slash role-playing game adventures through randomly generated dungeons to secure rare items. Torchlight II will include new character classes, quests, monsters, and dungeons, and a much-requested co-op mode.

For more, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of Torchlight II.