perfect-world-entertainment posts

The US PC-video game trade group the Entertainment Software Association has confirmed to Big Download that it has added two new companies as members. Both the graphics chip company Nvidia and the MMO game publisher Perfect World Entertainment are now listed as members on the ESA's web site. ESA PR rep Dan Hewitt confirmed to Big Download today that Nvidia and Perfect World came aboard officially as members in the latter half in 2010.

The ESA currently shows 36 member companies on its official web site. However two of the members listed, Eidos Interactive and Realtime Worlds, are no longer active companies. Eidos merged with Square Enix in 2009 and Realtime Worlds shut down operations in 2010 following the disastrous launch and later shut down of its FPSMMO game APB.

The ESA, which owns the annual E3 trade show event as well as the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, lost a number of high profile members in 2008 including Activision, LucasArts and id Software. Hewitt told Big Download today that the ESA has a constant dialog with the industry about bringing in new members as well as perhaps bringing back older ones.

The biggest new feature in Torchlight II, compared to the original game in the action-RPG series, is multiplayer support. In a new interview at VG247.com Max Schaefer, the co-founder of the game's developer Runic Games, says that co-op mode will be included, adding, "The sweet spot, just from playing in the office, is 1-4 players.

That doesn't mean the game can't handle more than four players, however. Schaefer admits, "There's no technological reason why we can't increase that, but once you get up to, like, eight players, it gets ridiculously crowded if you're at all in the same area." Schaefer says the team hasn't yet decided on what the final version will support saying, "It'll probably be between four and eight." Torchlight II, due out this spring, will also have a PvP mode but he says it's mainly just for kicks, saying, "We're not going to spend any time trying to really balance it very well [laughs], or make particular games for it."

One year ago today, the folks at start-up game developer Runic Games released Torchlight, a downloadable fantasy action-RPG that was created by some of the folks behind Blizzard's first two Diablo games. Torchlight was a huge success for the developer; last August it revealed to Gamasutra that it has sold "well over" 600,000 copies.

That sales number is about to get even bigger. To celebrate the first anniversary of Torchlight's release, the developer is selling the game for just $10, a 50 percent discount, on its web site from now until 11 am Eastern time on Friday. And of course the team is working on Torchlight 2 which is due out sometime in 2011.

Big Download just got off the phone with Runic Games' PR head Wonder Russell who gave us a little more info on today's surprise announcement of Torchlight II, the sequel to 2009's sleeper hit action-RPG game. Russell told us that while the developer isn't yet ready to release screenshots of Torchlight II, she did confirm that a playable version of the game will be on display at Gamescom in Germany later this month and also at PAX Prime 2010 in Seattle in early September.

Russell also confirmed to us that the previously announced plans for a Torchlight-based free-to-play MMO game have been delayed as the development team at Runic Games is now working sole on Torchlight II. Russell said that the MMO project will be back up to speed once Torchlight II is completed.

It's no secret that developer Runic Games plans to follow up the success of their downloadable action-RPG Torchlight with an MMO that's set in the same fictional fantasy world. PCGamer's web site reveals, via Runic's president Travis Baldree, that the development team wants the MMO to play "as close to single player as we can get it.:" The title will be free to play but will support microtransactions for its revenue source.

The microtransaction business model is certainly gaining more and more supporters from both developers and players but oddly enough Baldree won't be participating in his own game's business plan, saying, "I will never, ever buy a microtransaction item. I'm that kind of player. And the game has to be enjoyable for me, too."

Hot on the heels on the news that Runic Games' fantasy action-RPG Torchlight has now sold over 500,000 copies comes word that the game's publisher Perfect World has now bought a majority stake in Runic Games. The news came as part of Perfect World's latest financial results but the specifics of the Runic Games deal were not revealed.

Perfect World, which is based in China, said its decision to acquire the majority of Runic Games was to "combine their creativity and expertise in game development with our deep understanding of the online game market to create global titles." Runic Games, formed by former members of the Diablo development team, is known to be developing an unnamed MMO game based on the Torchlight universe.

This updated demo for Torchlight allows you to play for two hours and can be unlocked into the full version. It includes five new challenge room maps along with other game enhancements and fixes.

The demo also doubles as a stand-alone patch for current owners of the game. Be aware that it is ONLY meant for the version purchased directly from Runic Games, and those who purchased it from other outlets should check those sites for the appropriate updates.

Full patch notes, installation instructions and system requirements are shown after the jump.

Download Torchlight v1.15 Demo (410 MB)

Devin Grayson may be a name familiar to some of you who read comics regularly. Grayson was extremely busy in the first half of the decade writing tons of comics, mostly for DC Comics. Much of her work centered on the Batman family of comics including a five year run on Nightwing.

Since 2006, Grayson has been absent from the comic book industry but that's changing with the announcement that she will participate in Marvel Comic's Girl Comics anthology that's due out in early 2010. More importantly, Grayson has entered the game industry for the first time helping to write and localize Kung Foo!. It's a satirical look at MMO games that's being brought to the states by Perfect World International.

Big Download got a chance to ask Grayson some questions about her work on Kung Foo, her love of MMO game titles and more.

The Torchlight Editor (TorchED) allows users to create custom content for Torchlight. Much of what users are can look forward to getting their hands on is detailed in a video, where Runic Games highlights the features of its development tools.

Download Torchlight Editor v1.0 (383 MB)
Download the Torchlight v1.12 Demo (418 MB)
Check out all Torchlight downloads

If you're itching for an action hack-and-slash role-playing game to hold you over until Diablo III releases, then you can't do much better than Torchlight. Developed by Runic Games, with a team comprised largely of people that worked on the original Diablo and Diablo II, this is probably as close as one can get to a Diablo-esque experience without actually summoning the Lord of Terror. Even the music is reminiscent of Diablo. That's not to say that Torchlight is any kind of rehash. The game generally carries a light tone, thanks largely to its cartoonish art style and bright colors. Even in the deepest depths of the mines that run underneath the town of Torchlight, with the blood setting turned on, you won't find a creature that can be characterized as horrific or scary, so the game does a good job of standing out on its own.

Download the Torchlight Demo (418 MB)
Check out all Torchlight Downloads