The game was initially announced as launching in spring 2011, a release window later revised to spring or summer. Now, it's been revealed that development on the Xbox Live Arcade edition of the original Torchlight--launching on March 9 for 1,200 Microsoft Points ($15)--has caused the sequel's release to be expected no sooner than summer.

"I'd say that the Xbox project, having to do the extra work with the interface, has pushed us back a little bit, so we're probably talking July right now for Torchlight II," Runic CEO Max Schaefer told Digital Spy. "It's going great, however," he added. "We've actually got some optimisations and technical improvements that went into making the Xbox version that we've been able to go back and implement into Torchlight II for PC."

However, Runic minister of culture Wonder Russell has since told Shacknews that the studio has yet to narrow down a release date "any closer than 'Summer' at this point," noting that "we don't consider it delayed by any means." We can rule out spring, at least.

Still, as Torchlight II will bring new features including online co-op, overworld areas, customisable characters and a new user interface, we're happy to wait.