The Torchlight franchise seemed poised for a comeback in 2019 with the release of Echtra Games’ Torchlight Frontiers. Unfortunately, it seems that the title has been delayed. Echtra CEO Max Schaefer, who was also a co-founder for Blizzard North, confirmed the delay to PC Gamer at the recent ExileCon.

Schaefer said that the title would not release in the “2019 time frame that was indicated two and a half years ago. We have not updated that yet which we probably should.” What was the reason for the delay? Schaefer didn’t exactly offer much details aside from changes being made.

“But we don’t have really specific things to say. We’re doing some changes to the game right now that is kind of hard to pin down. We don’t really have better information to give yet. So that’s kind of why we’ve been waiting. But obviously it’s not going to make it right away. It’s plugging along and it’s getting better every day. And we’re really excited about it. It’s just we’re kind of waiting for the right time to like, come out with another big news dump about what’s going on.”

Torchlight Frontiers takes the same aesthetic and action RPG approach as its predecessors. However, it’s free to play and includes shared world gameplay, allowing players to band together and take on procedurally generated dungeons. It’s currently in development for Xbox One, PS4 and PC though you have to wonder if the delay means it could arrive for next-gen consoles sooner than later.

Along with Torchlight Frontiers, action RPG looter fans have plenty to look forward to. Path of Exile 2 was unveiled at ExileCon and will enter beta testing in late 2020. Meanwhile, Blizzard Entertainment has Diablo 4 in development though that’s still a ways off from release.

It was last year that Perfect World Entertainment and Echtra Games announced that they would be continuing the Torchlight series with a new ‘persistent world’ game, Torchlight Frontiers. Today, they unveiled a new class for that title, called the Railmaster, with a trailer.

Dubbed the “Conductor of Pain,” the class will put you in the shoes of an armored man wielding a very big hammer. He’ll use that not only to attack and create shockwaves to damage multiple foes, but also to lay track and custom platforms, as the name alludes to, that brings in an artillery train that can cause some big damage. It’s a bit different than what you may expect from the series, but the Railmaster seems to fit in the fantasy setting pretty well. You can see him in action in the trailer below.

Torchlight Frontiers is the latest in the classic fantasy action RPG series that was pretty popular a few years back. Torchlight 2, the most acclaimed installment of the series, is getting an enhanced release later this year. Torchlight Frontiers doesn’t have a final release date as of yet, but it is expected to be out this year for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Though Runic Games shut down last year, its legacy will live on. Perfect World Entertainment has announced Torchlight Frontiers, a follow-up to the much-loved action RPG looter series, for the Xbox One, PS4, and PC. It will release in 2019 and is developed by Echtra Games, whose team has shipped games with the likes of Runic and Blizzard Entertainment. Check out the reveal trailer below.

From the looks of it, the game seems to continue on from the destruction of Torchlight. Though The Alchemist and Heart of Ordrak were ultimately stopped in Torchlight 2, the Frontiers are overrun by goblins, the undead and other nasty beings. It’s up to the player to take the world back and probably snag some sick loot along the way.

Described as combining the “heart” of the Torchlight series with “a shared, persistent, and dynamically generated world”, Torchlight Frontiers could possibly follow a free-to-play model like Perfect World’s Neverwinter. How this will ultimately shake out remains to be seen, but for all intents and purposes, Torchlight is back. What are your thoughts on the announcement? Let us know in the comments.