Runic Games, the development team behind the Torchlight series and Hob, has officially closed its doors today. Runic made the announcement of its closure the same day that Perfect World shuttered Gigantic developer Motiga.
According to a statement obtained by Gamasutra, Perfect World’s decision to shut down Runic resulted from “the company’s continued strategy to focus on online games as a service.”
The news comes just over a month after the launch of Runic’s latest adventure game, Hob. Prior to that, Runic was known for developing the action RPG Torchlight back in 2009, with its sequel Torchlight 2 soon to follow.
In today’s announcement, Runic Games Studio Head Marsh Lefler stated, “Our focus is on our family here, and helping them find a new place to call home.” Those in the games industry looking to hire new talent can email Runic Games with details on job opportunities. Lefler also mentioned that there will be “some news coming” regarding the Torchlight series, and that their community and multiplayer services will continue running after the studio’s closure.
It's true, Runic Games has been closed. Our statement is on the website: https://t.co/uSWZ4X0XlW
— Runic Games (@RunicGames) November 3, 2017
Thank you for being part of our story. <3
According to the statement from Perfect World, “the staff reduction at Motiga and the closure of Runic Games Seattle were unrelated. Perfect World Entertainment stands committed to delivering the best massively multiplayer online gameplay experiences to our players.”
We hope that the developers affected by the closures today at both Runic Games and Motiga quickly land on their feet. It’s been a tough season for game developers, and hopefully there won’t be any more news of studio closures for the rest of 2017.
