Apparently the guys from Flagship Studios didn't just disappear when Flagship went down. Instead they joined forces with FATE designer Travis Baldree and with their powers combines created Runic Games. Their first game is Torchlight, an MMO that's coming out as a single-player product first:
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"Torchlight is an action RPG, kind of in a similar vein that we were working on previously with the Mythos project," Schaefer tells Gamasutra. "It's evocative of that same style of gameplay; there are a lot of Diablo vets on the team."
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">[...]
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Schaefer says the team knew intuitively that the subscription model was "wrong" not only because it limits the number of player accounts, but it also locks the player into the game and obligates them to play continually else waste money.
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">[...]
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">The team has an interesting launch strategy for Torchlight; to gradually introduce to universe to a Western audience more familiar with the Diablo style of gameplay in a single-player context, Runic will launch a U.S. and Europe-only single-player version this year, ahead of the full MMO.
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">"The single-player version is already really fun to play; we know we're onto something good because people just stay late at work and sit and play it. It's already got this addictive, really slick, fun feel to it."
Will it need an unlock code?
Spotted @ GameBanshee