Torchlight 2 delayed, leaving gamers without anything to play in 2011

Torchlight II, the highly-anticipated sequel to Runic Games' hit hack-and-slash lootfest, looks like it's going to be a much more fleshed-out experience than the first game thanks to the addition of multiplayer and a slew of other features. But with its new size comes a minor drawback: a longer development time. While Runic originally targeted a 2011 release date, it revealed today that it's going to have to push the launch back to 2012 in order to get it up to the quality and polish level it wants to achieve, but Runic president Travis Baldree doesn't think you're lacking other games to play, and has some suggestions.

"Besides, you're all playing Skyrim right now anyway, aren't you?" Baldree said in a post on their official website. "Or Battlefield 3? Or Uncharted 3? Or Saints Row 3? Or Arkham City? Or Skyward Sword? Or Minecraft? Or Modern Warfare 3? Or Dark Souls? Or Assassin's Creed Revelations?"

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Above: The debut trailer from GamesCom

He has a point – this year is pretty booked, and even if they had time to finish Torchlight we're not too sure it would benefit greatly from being released mere weeks away from games like Skyrim and Skyward Sword. The delay gives them time to polish it, as well as letting them have a beta before the full release. Then again, every day it's pushed into 2012 is a day it's closer to the release of Diablo III, and for as excited as we are for Runic's sequel, we can't imagine that it's going to fare well against Blizzard's mega-franchise. Sure, it will likely do alright, but those sales might die when DIII hits shelves early in 2012.

Or they're just banking on Diablo being delayed for a few more months, which is actually somewhat likely knowing Blizzard's record...