Torchlight II — Console Launch

01 — Project details

Torchlight II is one of the most beloved action RPGs of the past fifteen years. Originally developed by Runic Games and released on PC in 2012, it received an 88 on Metacritic and sold approximately 3 million copies. In September 2019, Perfect World Entertainment partnered with port specialist Panic Button—known for their acclaimed Switch ports of DOOM and Wolfenstein II—to bring Torchlight II to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One for $19.99, seven years after its original PC release.

I was on board as an Online Marketing Specialist at Perfect World.

02 — Challenge

Introduce a seven-year-old PC ARPG (action role-playing game) to a new generation of console players, especially Switch owners craving a Diablo-like dungeon crawler. Priced at $19.99, the campaign had to target two audiences simultaneously: longtime Torchlight fans already familiar with the game and eager to hear it's available on console, and console-native players who had never played it and needed convincing of its relevance on consoles.

03 — What I Owned

1. Digital advertising program. Managed paid media spend, creative testing, audience targeting, and pacing across the campaign window on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Google ads, and 3rd party.

2. Tentpole-moment activation. Scaled spend around the campaign's biggest awareness beats — the Nintendo Indie World Showcase placement (August 2019), the launch trailer release, and the September 3, 2019, release day.

3. Audience segmentation. Built and targeted distinct audiences for legacy Torchlight II PC players, ARPG fans (Diablo, Path of Exile), and console players who needed the game introduced from scratch.

4. Cross-platform launch coordination. Coordinated digital ad rollout across Nintendo eShop, PlayStation Store, and Xbox Live, aligning creative and pacing with each store's promotional calendar and the Switch-exclusive unicorn pet incentive.

03 — Results

Torchlight II debuted on September 3, 2019, during a Nintendo Indie World Showcase and received an 81 on Metacritic for its Switch version. Reviewers described it as "a near-perfect dungeon crawler" and "one of the closest things to a must-have purchase" on the platform. The launch introduced one of the most beloved ARPGs in the genre to a new audience seven years after its original PC release. Critics particularly praised the port's quality and the value it offers at $19.99.

04 — More Details

Torchlight II on console was a precision launch — a tight budget, a fixed price point, and two distinct audiences that needed two different messages. The work taught me how to scale spend around a single high-leverage moment (the Indie World Showcase) instead of trying to keep paid media on at constant volume across a campaign window, and how to keep creative testing disciplined when the dollars are small.