Torchlight Frontiers becomes Torchlight III, drops free-to-play model

Last year, I was able to play Torchlight Frontiers as one of those invited to take the Alpha-stage version of this upcoming title for a spin. Now, we are already facing the results of the feedback obtained during this testing period: a new title, a new delivery method for PCs, and a new business model.

To be more specific, this is what we should expect from the successor of Torchlight and Torchlight II: it will arrive later this year via Steam as Torchlight III and the best part of it all — at least for many of those who voiced their opinion while taking part in the Alpha test — is that the team behind it has decided to drop the free-to-play model and launch the game as a premium product instead.

In addition to the above, we should also highlight that Torchlight III will drop the idea of an MMO-like shared-world experience that was tested in Torchlight Frontiers and stay closer to the approach used in its two predecessors. "During development, you often discover what type of product a game was meant to be and we found Torchlight Frontiers was meant to be a true successor to Torchlight I & II. Based on this and extensive feedback from our Alpha testers, we decided it was time to take the game back to its roots and model it after the classic Torchlight games that ARPG fans have come to love." — Max Schaefer, Echtra Games CEO and co-founder of the Torchlight franchise. 

Closed Alpha testing of Torchlight III will kick off this Wednesday. If everything goes smoothly, the game will hit Windows PCs in around six months via Steam. If there's anyone else here who enjoyed the first two Torchlight games and/or Torchlight Frontiers, please don't be shy and drop a comment below.