[5][11] Gamasutra named Runic Games one of its "Top 5 Developers" of 2009 for the studio's ability to create the "highly-polished" Torchlight in only 11 months.

[12] The company was also praised for its responsiveness to its player community, citing one particular incident: Mere hours after a forum member mentioned that one of the game's camera effects left her unable to play sections of the games due to an uncommon eye condition, a Runic developer patched in a user toggle for the option -- at 8:00 am on a Sunday morning, no less.Following the 2009 release of Torchlight, the studio shifted to the production of a sequel Torchlight II.

[15] In March 2014, co-founders Erich Schaefer and Travis Baldree decided to leave Runic and form a new indie studio, Double Damage Games.

[16][17] Max Schaefer left the studio in early 2016; he then founded Echtra Games, which included a number of former Blizzard and Runic developers.

[21] The fantasy-themed game is set in the fictional town of Torchlight and the expansive caverns and dungeons nearby, which adventurers explore to collect valuable loot and battle hordes of monsters.

The company decided to develop the sequel to "give [the players] what they're asking for" in terms of a multiplayer experience, while serving as an intermediate step toward their planned MMORPG.

[citation needed] Hob is set on a beautiful and dangerous unknown world, with buzzing life above and the whirrs of mysterious machinery below.

Players must learn to survive, understand their true purpose through acquiring skills, and ultimately transform the nature of the world itself.