“Obviously we had to include pets in Torchlight III, it’s a pillar of the franchise,” Schaefer said. As in the first two Torchlight titles, Torchlight III gives you a pet companion right from the beginning, and that pet – initially an owl, an alpaca, or a retriever – helps you in battle and can cart loot back to town to sell while you carry on exploring. It’s all happened with COVID-19 work-from-home restrictions in place, giving developers more time to spend with their families – and with their pets.Įchtra CEO and Torchlight franchise creator Max Schaefer and co-lead developer Tyler Thompson talked with us about the pet system in Torchlight III, how it’s different from the pet systems in past Torchlight games, and what they plan on doing with it post-launch. Over the course of Torchlight III’s whirlwind Early Access period, developer Echtra Games – itself forged from the remnants of original Torchlight studio Runic – has added new regions, reworked its subclass mechanics, and rebalanced a live game to keep up with community feedback, all in a relatively short amount of time. The loot-packed action RPG game has added tons of content since it first arrived, just five months ago, and now it’s gearing up for its official launch – the Torchlight III release date is set for October 13.

Torchlight III is just about ready to leave Steam’s Early Access program.

Torchlight 3 release date