Torchlight 3, formerly Torchlight Frontiers, takes the series "back to its roots"

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The Torchlight 2 sequel will abandon the in-game store in favor of a more traditional one-time price

Torchlight Frontiers is now Torchlight 3, and there's a lot more to discuss than the name change. Developer Runic Games says the new name marks a "major shift in our design approach" from Torchlight Frontiers and a return to roots for the series.

Namely, Torchlight 3 will be developed for online and offline play and resemble Torchlight 1 and 2 more closely than what we'd seen from Torchlight Frontiers. That means it'll follow the more traditional Act structure from the first two games and return to the vertical progression system. 

Also of note is that Runic is billing Torchlight 3 as a "premium title" that you'll need to buy into in order to play, whereas Frontiers was being billed as a free-to-play experience. Likewise, Runic has removed the in-game store that deals in real-world money.

"Over the past year, we have gathered massive amounts of feedback from our Alpha testers," the studio writes in a blog post. "After reviewing this feedback, discussing with our internal teams, and receiving guidance from our publisher, we determined that this was the best course for the game. This shift helps bring Torchlight back to its roots and makes it the true sequel to Torchlight I & II that it was always meant to be."

Finally, Torchlight 3 will move over to Steam for distribution. If you played any of the previous Alphas via Arc, Runic says you'll get a Steam key in your email to test out the new build. You can check out the trailer for Torchlight 3 up at the top and see for yourself what's new.

Correction: The article originally stated that Torchlight 1 and 2 were free-to-play. Those games are in-fact are not free-to-play, and we've edited this article to reflect that fact.

If you preferred the MMO direction of Frontiers, check out the best MMORPGs to play right now.

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.