[Update]: After only a few months in Early Access, Torchlight 3 has now been unleashed onto PC and consoles.

Torchlight Frontiers was originally supposed to be a free-to-play action RPG following in the footsteps of the first two Torchlight games. However, if the feedback coming from the closed test is any indicator, Torchlight Frontiers was a bit unfocused and just not all that fun to actually play.

As such, I am very happy to say that Torchlight Frontiers is getting heavily redesigned and subsequently rebranded as Torchlight 3. Besides simply swapping the name, Torchlight 3 will be a paid game with no in-game microtransactions, and will feature a more classic Act structure like the previous games. Most importantly of all, you'll be able to play both offline and online, though your offline characters won't be able to go online due to obvious concerns about cheating.

If you wondering just what all of this looks like in action, as well as what the developers have planned for Torchlight 3 as a whole, you'll hopefully find the answers you seek in the recently posted developer update. Have a gander, it's a pretty informative one:

Personally, I'm quite pleased with this change in direction. Far too often free-to-play games add incredibly grindy mechanics in order to pad out the progression and 'convince' players to spend money, so being able to simply buy and play a multiplayer game is quite refreshing. As such, I can only hope Torchlight 3 will be a worthy competitor to both the new version of Path of Exile, as well as the upcoming Diablo 4.

You can read more about Torchlight 3, and follow any future developer updates, over at the official website.