The creators of action-role-playing game Armed Heroes Online have denied allegations that they ripped off Torchlight's art assets, taking to the Touch Arcade forums today to call the claims "untenable."

Over the weekend, Runic Games President Travis Baldree pointed out that Armed Heroes Online had stolen a large number of art assets from his company's action-RPG Torchlight, posting an art montage (below) as proof. He also unzipped sound effect files from the game and said they shared the same names as many of the files in Torchlight.

But in a post this afternoon, a Touch Arcade user named Serena Zhang who says she is from Armed Heroes developer EGLS said they'd "never straightly stole assets from Torchlight," claiming they drew inspiration from World of Warcraft and other games. As proof, she posted several Armed Heroes images lined up next to character models from Torchlight. She also pointed to similarities between skills in Torchlight and Diablo II, saying Runic drew inspiration from other games too.

(Runic consists of a number of former Blizzard North employees who worked on the Diablo series.)

"We sincerely hope that Mr. Travis Baldree can note that the similarity between Armed Heroes and Torchlight may be due to that we both learn from Blizzard, unless you are suggesting that except you the rest must not learn these advanced skills from Blizzard who has long been one of the great leaders within the industry," Zhang wrote. "Moreover, if anyone has ever pay attention to games of similar themes, he or she should have found that there are always several games of same type compete with and learn from each other's game designs, functions and other settings."

But Baldree says Armed Heroes directly took assets from Torchlight, and indeed, the above image makes that seem pretty clear. In a response to Zhang, Baldree posted two more comparison images.

"I have no problem with inspiration," he wrote. "We are obviously inspired by Diablo, and make no bones about it. But we don't include any Diablo artwork or sounds in our game.

"Posting pictures of random models with no association isn't much of a defense, I'm sorry. Twiddling the geometry a little bit and doing minor texture alterations doesn't equate to original artwork or even artwork 'inspired by.'"

Armed Heroes Online, a game released last week to the Canadian iTunes store, is one of the most blatant cases of theft I have ever seen in an iOS app or game, and considering the shitshow of fakes and ripoffs that store is, that's saying a lot. Nearly every visual asset in this game is taken directly from the acclaimed dungeon-crawler Torchlight, by Runic Games, for PC. (And Mac!)

Runic's president, Travis Baldree, said yesterday via Twitter that the game "wholesale stole most of the assets from Torchlight!" Baldree then directly Tweeted the game's account, saying "you realize that since Armed Heroes lifts assets wholesale from Torchlight, we have to notify Apple, right?" He later repeated these same statements to TouchArcade and provided this collage as proof. We've reached out to Baldree directly.

[Update] Baldree returned a call seeking comment. The theft appears to be of audiovisual assets only, not actual game code or mechanics found in Torchlight. "It's kind of funny," Baldree said, "making a mobile MMO (which Armed Heroes purports to be) is hard. But art outsourcing in a place like China is pretty cheap."

Baldree said the asset stealing is so comprehensive, the voice of a Runic technical artist, who supplies the sound effects for a "joke weapon" in Torchlight, also appears in Armed Heroes. Baldree said Runic's attorneys have contacted Apple to demand a takedown, which he said was a pretty easy and straightforward process. "Our main goal is simply to take it down," Baldree told Kotaku. "They shouldn't be selling it."

Baldree said that Runic has seen other visual assets pinched before but it was usually in small details or single instances. "This is different in that every one of their monsters is the same as ours," he said. "It's not like they took one thing because they were running short on time. They took everything. It's so over-the-top."

The game's maker is EGLS Technology, based out of Beijing. It's a free game that appears to be monetized by selling virtual currency—including one in-app purchase totaling $99. Comments underneath the game's YouTube trailer suggest that it also stole visual assets from World of Warcraft. See for yourself above.

Despite this very visible embarrassment and repeated others, I'm so glad Apple is steadfast that it won't "compromise the quality of the teams" it has reviewing App submissions. Evidently it's extremely difficult to find, hire and train contractors with any knowledge of video games who could spot this kind of stealing, or look at something published out of China, to a secondary North American store only, with enormously expensive in-app purchases, and not think any of that warrants further scrutiny.

I realize that other app stores also are a Wild West of questionable content, but they don't offer the veneer of gatekeeping that Apple does. Whoever their "actual, smart, educated, well-trained people," they have on this job, they seem only to be looking for porn, because they aren't doing a thing to protect gamers or legitimate game creators.

This might be a good time to remind folks that Torchlight is now available for $8.99, more than half off, as part of Steam's Summer Sale event.

The developers at Runic Games know you've been waiting. Their long-brewing RPG sequel was supposed to be out last year, to give even players a dose of hack-and-loot before the even longer-brewing Diablo III came out. Now, Blizzard's game will be hitting shelves before Torchlight 2.

So, the powers-that-be at Runic have offered up the game's opening cinematic to whet fans' appetites. If the art style in the teaser looks familiar, that's because the animation was done by Klei Entertainment, who have produced the Shank games. The cartoony clip reveals the threat that you'll be facing up against in Torchlight 2, with sequences that hint at the kind of co-op experience you'll be having. Makes the wait a little better, no?

Give it up for Runic Games. Asked to account for why its repeatedly delayed Torchlight II isn't going to release this year, the studio's president just pointed at the other entrees on the holiday gaming buffet and said, hey, with all this great stuff here, you can wait, right?

"You're all playing Skyrim right now anyway, aren't you?" Travis Baldree wrote on the game's official site. "Or Battlefield 3? Or Uncharted 3? Or Saints Row 3? Or Arkham City? Or Skyward Sword? Or Minecraft? Or Modern Warfare 3? Or Dark Souls? Or Assassin's Creed Revelations? Those are awesome games. When Torchlight 2 goes live, we want it to be awesome too - all the way through."

In seriousness, the game's PC release is delayed again because it's just not cooked to perfection yet. "We've come to the realization, however, that getting a game of this scope up to the quality and polish level we want to achieve is going to take a little longer; especially since we want to run a small beta before release to ensure that our launch is smooth."

Baldree went on to say that though the first Torchlight was released in "record time," it did so with "plenty of issues" that more development time and resources could have resolved pre-release. "We do have those resources for the sequel, and we feel strongly that we should apply them to make this the best game we can make and hopefully one that you'll enjoy and continue to want to play in the future," he wrote.

An Update from Travis Baldree [Runic Games]

Max Schaefer is one of the founders of Blizzard North and Runic Games, meaning he has games like Diablo II and Torchlight on his resume. Add "incredibly good sport" to his list of achievements, based on this incredibly awkward live action role-playing scenario put together by the folks at PCGames.de.

To Schaefer's credit, his attempts at LARPing are sufficiently within the standard awkwardness levels of people dressing up in silly costumes and swatting at each other with harmless swords. Schaefer's fighting "Diablo" with blade and torch (geddit!) while putting on a very brave face.

To sum up: You should probably buy Torchlight II when it comes out so this wasn't all for naught.

Max Schaefer kills Diablo - short version [PCGames.de via IncGamers]

Torchlight II will sell for $19.99, the same price as the original, surprisingly fun PC action game when it releases later this year, developer Runic Games said today.

"It's always been our goal to provide exceptional value for the price," says Max Schaefer, CEO of Runic Games. "Everyone who wants to play Torchlight II will be able to comfortably afford to do so, and they'll be able to play with their friend online or via a LAN, or play single player offline, all with no further purchases.""

Runic Games, which is showing the game at Penny Arcade Expo this week, also announced the fourth playable class of Torchlight II, the magic-wielding Embermage. The Embermage joins the previously announced Engineer, Outlander, and Berserker classes.

Torchlight did land-office bidness on Xbox Live Arcade, but Torchlight 2 is so far above the memory limit on an XBLA game that the developer is focusing instead on a MacOS port after its upcoming PC release.

Max Schaefer, the Runic Games CEO, told Eurogamer that the first Torchlight just barely fit under XBLA's file size limit. While file size is not the issue here, memory is, Torchlight 2 would still need to be "comprehensively redesigned" to get on the Xbox 360's download service.

However, "We would have to be redoing the interface for a console release anyway, just like we did with Torchlight 1, so it would probably make sense to do something more specifically tailored to the Xbox," Schaefer said.

So Runic has not completely written off Xbox Live, but Schaefer said the studio's priority for now is finishing the game for PC and then delivering a port for MacOS.

He added that Runic would consider pursuing a full retail release for consoles, which eliminates the space worries of XBLA but poses another set of headaches, too. "We would absolutely consider that," he said, but they have had no discussions with publishers about it.

Torchlight 2 is Too Big for XBLA [Eurogamer]

Torchlight, one of 2009's surprise hits on the PC, is hoping to be one of 2011's surprise hits on the Xbox 360. Here's how it's shaping up.

Torchlight should be out in Feb/March, and will sadly only be appearing on the Xbox 360, with no PS3 version planned (as it's actually being published by Microsoft).

PC role-playing-game Torchlight is back. There is a reason why. This trailer tells you that reason. Would you like to know? Then watch this!

Developed by Runic Games, the fantasy title will be out next spring.

Torchlight, the surprise Diablo-esque hit of last fall, is getting a sequel this coming spring, according to developer Runic Games.

Torchlight II has you journeying beyond the town of Torchlight to the Estherian Steppes and the continent of Vilderan to battle a new and powerful enemy that threatens the entire world. And this time you'll be able to play the role-playing game cooperatively with a friend.

The game will include a free peer-to-peer matchmaking service that drops you and your pal into randomized outdoor areas, caverns and dungeons.

Here's a run down of the game's other key features as listed on the official website:

Customizable Characters – Players create and customize a character from one of four classes available and choose an animal companion. Through cosmetic, class, and gender choices, skill path decisions, and the treasures they acquire, each character can be custom-tailored to each player's needs.

Moddability – Torchlight II will release with an updated version of TorchEd, the Torchlight editor. Players have the option to create their own mods, adding even more content to the world. You and your friends can download the same mod and play together!

New User Interface – Torchlight II boasts an entirely new, improved user interface, designed to be easier than ever for new players to pick up and play. Thanks to this intuitive interface, players have immediate access to a rich and varied world, with little experience necessary.

Overworld Areas – Torchlight II has large randomized overworld areas to explore with weather, time of day cycles, and random events that provide players with even more content to experience.

Random Dungeons – Delve into randomly generated dungeons within the game at any time for extra experience and rare loot. Dungeons in Torchlight II have even more branching paths to explore with friends filled with random events, rewards and dangers.

Retirement System – Once characters are sufficiently leveled up, they can "retire" and bestow specific benefits and perks onto new characters.

Pets – Players choose a pet to accompany them. Pets level up along with the player, and help in battle, learn spells, carry items, and perform a variety of support services.

Fishing – Fishing returns in the sequel! Players can take a break from the high-energy pace of adventuring to relax by one of the many fishing holes and see what they can catch. Fish have unique benefits for the player and pet, while a number of other rewards can also be discovered.

It sounds like there is plenty packed into the planned sequel to bring fans back to the game. In case you missed out the first one check out our review of it here, and then go pick it up for the PC or Mac.

Torchlight 2 thanks MeisterGlanz]