Runic Games

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Runic Games
Perfect World (2010–2017)
Websiterunicgames.com

Runic Games was an American computer game developer based in Seattle. It was formed by former Flagship Studios developers in August 2008.[1][2] In 2009, the company released Torchlight, a single-player action role-playing game. It was acquired by Perfect World in May 2010.[3] They released a sequel, Torchlight II, in 2012. It was at this time the developers revealed they were no longer pursuing plans to create an MMO in the Torchlight universe.[4]

History

Runic Games was founded on August 11, 2008, by Travis Baldree (Fate designer), Max Schaefer, Erich Schaefer (co-founder of Blizzard North), and Peter Hu.[5][6] Originally, the company was incorporated with the placeholder name "Surprise Truck", as suggested by Max Schaefer.[6] The naming resulted in the company receiving a multitude of calls asking whether they were available to do truck delivery jobs.[6] Runic Games was formed specifically for the purpose of keeping the team behind the game Mythos together to develop a new action RPG video game as a "spiritual successor" to their previous project.[7] Following the dissolution of Flagship Studios in 2008, all 14 members of the Seattle team that developed Mythos signed onto Runic Games.[2][8]

Full production on the game started around November 2008, meaning that the game's total development period was approximately 11 months.

Gamasutra named Runic Games one of its "Top 5 Developers" of 2009 for the studio's ability to create the "highly-polished" Torchlight in only 11 months.[12]
The company was also praised for its responsiveness to its player community, citing one particular incident:

Mere hours after a forum member mentioned that one of the game's camera effects left her unable to play sections of the games due to an uncommon eye condition, a Runic developer patched in a user toggle for the option -- at 8:00 am on a Sunday morning, no less.

— Chris Remo, "Gamasutra's Best Of 2009: Top 5 Developers"
Gamasutra

Following the 2009 release of Torchlight, the studio shifted to the production of a sequel

Torchlight Frontiers, a shared world game build on the Torchlight IP.[18]

On November 3, 2017, Perfect World announced the closure of Runic Games, along with large layoffs at Motiga. Perfect World said the closure was to reflect their company's focus on games as a service.[19] One set of developers from Runic, including Marsh Lefler, Patrick Blank, Allen Fong, and John Dunbar, along with former Gearbox Software members, established Monster Squad Games and are currently developing a player-versus-environment cooperative game.[20]

Games

Torchlight (2009)

Main article: Torchlight

Runic Games' first product is Torchlight, a single-player

XBLA on March 9, 2011.[23] The game was met with a generally positive critical reception, holding a Metacritic score of 83 based on 57 reviews.[24]

Torchlight II (2012)

Main article: Torchlight II

Runic Games announced Torchlight II, a sequel that features multiplayer co-op. The company decided to develop the sequel to "give [the players] what they're asking for" in terms of a multiplayer experience, while serving as an intermediate step toward their planned MMORPG.[14] Torchlight II was released on September 20, 2012.[25]

Though not listed anywhere in their marketing materials,[26] Torchlight II requires a Runic Games account to play in Internet Multiplayer games.

Hob (2017)

Main article: Hob (video game)

Runic Games announced Hob on August 17, 2015.[citation needed]

Hob is set on a beautiful and dangerous unknown world, with buzzing life above and the whirrs of mysterious machinery below. The more players delve into the world's design, the more they uncover a planet in peril. Players must learn to survive, understand their true purpose through acquiring skills, and ultimately transform the nature of the world itself.

"Hob is presented without text or dialogue. Narrative is revealed as players explore and interact with their mysterious planet, and the strange life forms that inhabit it. Hob features smooth controller gameplay, multi-layered puzzles, and striking visuals".[27]

Hob was released on September 26, 2017.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Sean Hollister (2008-08-14). "Captaining The Lifeboat: Runic Games' Max Schaefer and Travis Baldree". Gamecyte. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  2. ^ a b Suzie Ford (2008-08-11). "WarCry Interviews Runic Games' Travis Baldree". WarCry Network. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  3. ^ "Torchlight XBLA Press Release". www.runicgamesfansite.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  4. ^ Griffin McElroy (2012-09-20). "Runic Games has 'no plans' to work on Torchlight MMO". TheVerge. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
  5. ^ a b Michael Cunningham (2009-08-21). "Torchlight Interview". rpgamer.com. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  6. ^ a b c Schreier, Jason (November 6, 2017). "How Microsoft Almost Published Torchlight, And Other Memories From Runic Games". Kotaku.
  7. ^ Sid Shuman (2009-02-06). "Runic Games' Max Schaefer warns indie devs, talks secret new game, Diablo 3". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2009-02-10. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  8. ^ David Jenkins (2008-08-11). "Mythos Team Reforms As Runic Games". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  9. G4 TV. Archived from the original
    on March 23, 2012. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  10. ^ TiberiusAudley (2009-03-28). "Announcing: Torchlight!". Runic Insider. Archived from the original on 2009-05-30. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
  11. ^ "Torchlight: Mega-Interview". Pcgames.de. 2009-07-24. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  12. Gamasutra
    . Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  13. ^ Tracey John (2009-12-09). "Runic Games talks Torchlight, the upcoming MMO, Diablo comparisons, more". Massively.com. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  14. ^
    Gamasutra
    . Retrieved 2010-08-06.
  15. ^ "Perfect World acquires majority stake in Runic Games". gamesindustry.biz. 2010-05-18. Archived from the original on 2020-07-19. Retrieved 2021-04-25. 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.
  16. ^ "Runic Games • View topic - Announcement : Next Things". Runic Games Forums. Archived from the original on 2014-03-28.
  17. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (March 27, 2014). "Co-founders of Torchlight dev Runic exit studio to go indie". Eurogamer. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  18. ^ O'Conners, Alice (August 9, 2018). "Torchlight Frontiers taking action-RPG to 'shared world'". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  19. Gamasutra. 2017-11-03. Archived from the original
    on 2021-01-18. Retrieved 2021-04-25. Perfect World Entertainment recently closed the Seattle office of Runic Games as part of the company's continued strategy to focus on online games as a service
  20. ^ Horti, Samuel (October 25, 2018). "Former Torchlight devs have teamed up for a new co-op game". PC Gamer. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  21. ^ Kat Bailey (2009-09-04). "Release Date Revealed For Torchlight". 1up.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-12. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  22. ^ "News - Steam For Mac Launch Details Revealed". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  23. ^ "Happy Torchlight XBLA day". Runic Games. 2011-03-09. Retrieved 2011-03-09.
  24. ^ "Torchlight (pc) Reviews". Metacritic. 2009-10-29. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  25. ^ "9.20.12". www.runicgames.com. August 31, 2012. Retrieved 2023-06-22.
  26. ^ "Torchlight II".
  27. ^ "Runic Games Announces".

External links

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